Pandora's Secret
by alias of a girl
Summary: Sequel to 'Everything to Lose'. Riku doesn't like what fate had in store for him and his friends. But he also doesn't know that he's inadvertently set in motion a chain of events that will unravel the very fabric of Destiny itself. [permanent hiatus]
1. NNYU

First! I know that at the beginning the story may seem like it has nothing to do with anything, but trust me, a handful of chapters in, everything's gonna start making sense. You'll just have to wait and see….

Second! I OWN NOTHING! Except maybe the storyline. Okay? Okay! Get to it!

……………

Somewhere in the northern part of New York State, in a small university known for its arts and sciences programs, in the Rosalin House residence, three girls were sitting on a rather old, dilapidated couch. Their names were Naomi, Leilani (nicknamed Lil), and Rochelle (occasionally called Ella). Naomi settled herself carefully on the couch, trying to be careful and make sure it wasn't going to fall down under her weight. She was a slim girl, but the couch was so old that more than once the weight of their tiny little pet cat Angel broke it. Fairly confident that she wasn't going to break the couch, Naomi relaxed and started to put up her hair. She had a bag full of random hair things in her lap, and there was a mirror on the wall next to her, which she used. She was putting up her hair in a surprisingly elaborate bun, being part of the Drama and Dance program. Lil shifted her weight and kneeled next to Naomi, looking over her head and into the mirror.

"Would you like some help?" She asked, smiling slightly as she watched Naomi desperately attempt to have three hands. Naomi nodded in relief, letting Lil take hold of a handful of pins. Despite her having short hair for as long as anyone could remember, Lil was exceptional at doing people's hair, and Naomi more than willingly allowed her to get to work in placing pins into the bun while she fixed up the front of her hair with one hand and searched her bag for hairspray with the other. All the while, Rochelle was sitting at the other end of the couch, watching intently.

"How can you possibly stand having your hair tugged and pulled on like that all the time?" She asked, sounding rather surprised, which was an occasion since she had a habit of being quite emotionless. Naomi shrugged. Lil laughed.

"I don't like it either, that's why I have my hair cut short." She answered with a grin. Rochelle crossed her arms.

"Well you don't seem to have a problem doing it to her." She accused. Lil twisted around to face her.

"It's fun, and just because we don't like it doesn't mean Naomi has to dislike it too." She said resolutely Naomi nodded in agreement.

"I don't mind it, besides, it looks so nice when it's finished!" She wasn't finished talking, but Lil shushed her and told her to hold still. Rochelle continued to watch them, interested, seeming to take no notice of the little white cat that jumped up into her lap and settled there for a sleep. Naomi had long, long brown hair, and blue-grey eyes. She was the most animated person Rochelle knew, except for Lil's younger sister, and she was a year younger than both Rochelle and Leilani. She couldn't quite recall how they met the younger girl, but both of them became great friends with her very quickly, and so when she came to the university, she was immediately invited to stay in the student house with them. She was to be introduced to Lil's younger sister and her best friend, who were supposed to be staying in the house with them next year, and then she was going to a dance rehearsal, as their final show was to be within the next week. It was the end of her first year, and the recital was to act as her exam for her Classical Dance class. She'd gotten up late, so Rochelle and Lil were already ready for the day and had agreed to help her get ready in the little time they had left before the other two girls arrived. Lil was still kneeling on the couch, and Rochelle found herself wondering how she could keep herself from falling through it. Then again, Lil had grace few people had, grace rivaled only by Naomi when she danced. Her short brown hair was often hard to control, but somehow she always managed, and her eyes were an intriguing combination of blue green. She was at NNYU (AN: that stands for North New York University) as prep for medical school. And as for Rochelle, she was tall (often aided by her shoes), with brown eyes that seemed to grow almost red, and hair colour that she changed so often that no one could remember what her natural colour was, which was apparently a habit she shared with Lil's little sister. There was a ring at the doorbell, and Lil put the finishing touches of Naomi's hair. Naomi jumped to her feet and ran into her room to get changed, having only been wearing a bath robe. She came stumbling back out of her room again, wearing a pair of jeans and straightening her shirt as she went to join Lil and Rochelle at the door. Wandering down the stairs, she heard a squeal.

"ANNIE!" Stepping into the front hall, she saw a blonde girl with her arms thrown around Lil and a dark haired girl dropping bags of stuff at the door. Another figure appeared at the door, a black haired guy, carrying further bags, dropping them next to the others. He smiled at the dark haired girl, planted a kiss on her lips and murmured a goodbye before heading out. The blond girl stared openly at her friend. As soon as the door was shut, she shook her head.

"Mel! What did I tell you?" She asked, obviously not impressed by something. The dark haired girl, named Melody, smiled apologetically.

"I know, Tegan, I know, but I can't. He'd be crushed." She answered. The blonde girl, Tegan, threw her hands into the air.

"It's all very sweet of you to be thinking about him, but _what about you_? You can't stand the guy!" She told her, frustrated. Lil, Rochelle and Naomi were all watching the pair silently, quite bewildered. Melody sighed.

"But… I keep trying, I just can't get the words to come out." She answered. Tegan crossed her arms.

"Okay, but you're gonna be really sorry when a guy that you really do want to go out with comes along and you have to tell him that you're already going out with Riley." She said. Melody blinked at her.

"I'm surprised. That was a very wise thing to say. I wasn't expecting anything like that from you." She stated. Tegan smiled, then frowned.

"Hey! Are you calling me dumb?" She asked. Melody giggled, collecting her stuff.

"Of course not!" She said, almost walking into Naomi. She stopped suddenly. "Oh! Hi. I'm Melody. Which one of you is Lil?" She asked. Naomi pointed and Melody grinned. "Umm, Tegan's told me lots about you." She said, giving up on trying to offer her hand and just nodding to her in greeting instead.

"So, you're Melody then? Tegan's told me much about you too. Want some help with your stuff?" She asked. Melody nodded, and instantly all three girls began to collect the bags full of stuff and led the two girls upstairs. Halfway through the unpacking process, Naomi jumped to her feet and ran out the door, grabbing her stuff and shouting a quick goodbye. Slightly bewildered, Tegan and Melody both looked expectantly at Rochelle and Leilani. Lil grinned.

"Naomi's got dance rehearsal." She told them simply. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then stood up. "How about a tour?" she asked, helping the two younger girls to their feet. Rochelle stood up, hands on her hips.

"Of the house?" She asked skeptically. Lil grinned.

"No, of the campus!" She answered, as if it had been obvious (even if none of the others found it to be). At that, they all piled downstairs and out the door. Lil and Rochelle took the two new girls to see all in places of interest on campus, and where they'd be taking their classes. Melody was in a musical program, and found out that Naomi was volunteering to help teach her Intro to Musical Dramatics class. Tegan, on the other hand, was to be taking chemical science courses.

"Ever since Mr. Hart taught me how to make an explosion in a bottle, I've been hooked!" She stated, giggling. Rochelle rolled her eyes. Even if Lil had told her countless times about Tegan's heart of gold, the girl was annoying to the point of insanity! On their way back to the house, they saw an older woman walking slowly down the street, with a rather senile expression on her face. Lil smiled in spite of herself.

"Good morning, Mrs. Jenson." She greeted the woman warmly. Mrs. Jenson smiled.

"Good morning Leilani! Rochelle! And who are these two?" She asked.

"I'm Tegan, Lil's sister!"

"My name's Melody."

"My, my, Melody is a pretty name." She said. Melody smiled, blushing a little. Mrs. Jenson's smile widened. "I am a music professor after all." She said. Melody blinked.

"Really? I'm enrolled in the music program next year." She said. Mrs. Jenson looked very pleased.

"Are you now? Well, I am glad. There are so few good music students to be found these days." She said with a sigh. Then she smiled again. "But I can tell already you'll make a wonderful student! I'll be looking forward to seeing you in my classes next year!" With that, she continued on her merry way, pasting her senile expression back on her face, and beginning to hum as she walked. Lil grinned at Melody.

"You'll love her. Trust me, she's so much fun."

………………

Mmmmm, what a bland introduction. I love it :p Well, next chapter, I'm jumping the summer and we start at the beginning of Melody and Tegan's first year! And that's when things start to happen………. DUN DUN DUN! Lol! Review guys! Let me know a) what you think and b) how confused you are. That way, I'll know how much of an explanation I'll need to write in :P


	2. Melody's Class

DON'T BE MAD GUYS! I know very much how the lack of characters might be fuddling you some, but trust me, you'll soon find that there are more characters involved in this story than you could possibly realize as of yet. I'm rather impressed that, as you all have read the epilogue of the last fic, no one as of yet seems to have guessed by master plan! Okay, so maybe it's not so master... well, I dunno, I'll see what you guys think of it when it comes to unravel. And to habbo: do not fret, this is not another boring high school story, considering that it takes place in a university :P AH i'm just kidding. The university it just a random place that people tend to be, and where people can stumble across other unexpected people wink wink. And don't you worry, Riku will get his fair share of ass kicking before this thing is through! This chappie may lead to some sneak peeking of the plot unfolding in a couple of chappies. I said last chappie that this fic may not make much sense in the beginning, but then again, you'll see how it completely comes to work itself out soon enough. As to the part Pandora plays in this fic...well, you'll just have to wait and see! I guess the whole point of this little rant-y thing is that I know you guys were impressed with my last fic, and I'm glad you loved it so much, and so please, for the next chappie, bare with the confussledness as I promise to deliver a fanfiction as good as the last!  
PS: as it seems everyone is confused by the fact that my fic is located in the kh section, I shall move it to ffx-2 :P

………………………………………..

So, Melody wasn't the greatest singer. Kind of ironic, considering her name, but she loved singing more than anything else, and since she wasn't very good at or very passionate about much anything else, she came to NNYU for it's musical program. It was her first vocal class, and Mrs. Jenson was insisting that everyone should feel comfortable with each other, and so was saying that everyone should sing something in front of the rest of the class and everyone had to say something positive about it. Melody found it kind of juvenile, but she was glad it wasn't very intensive today, she was have huge problems concentrating on much of anything.

"Melody, would you like to start?" Mrs. Jenson asked, pulling her back to reality. Melody blinked. She hadn't exactly been paying very much attention, and wasn't entirely sure what she was starting.

"What song would you like to sing for us?" Mrs. Jenson asked warmly, motioning her up to the front of the room. Melody's heart dropped like a stone. She knew she wasn't the greatest singer, and the last thing she had wanted was to be the first to sing. She swallowed hard. Mrs. Jenson probably picked her because hers was the only name she knew. She sighed and stood up.

"Umm, I'm not sure what song I want to sing." She said slowly as she approached the head of the classroom. "Do you have any music?" She asked, stalling. Mrs. Jenson smiled.

"Just sing whatever you are most comfortable with. I'd prefer if you didn't sing with music, I find people sing more naturally when they don't have it." She answered. Melody tried to keep from frowning. She gulped as she turned to face the class. What would she sing? She bit her tongue and decided to sing the song that just happened to come to her when she opened her mouth.

"Am I loud and clear or am I breaking up?  
Am I still your charm or am I just bad luck?  
Are we getting closer or are we just getting more lost?

I'll show you mine if you show me yours first  
Let's compare scars I'll tell you whose is worse  
Let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words

We live on front porches and swing life away  
We get by just fine here on minimum wage  
If love is a labor I'll slave 'til the end  
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand

I've been here so long I think that its time to move  
The winter's so cold summer's over too soon  
Let's pack our bags and settle down where palm trees grow

And I've got some friends some that I hardly know  
We've had some times I wouldn't trade for the world  
We chase these days down with talks of the places that we will go

We live on front porches and swing life away  
We get by just fine here on minimum wage  
If love is a labor I'll slave 'til the end  
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand  
Until you hold my hand

I'll show you mine if you show me yours first  
Let's compare scars I'll tell you whose is worse  
And let's unwrite these pages and replace them with our own words

We live on front porches and swing life away  
We get by just fine here on minimum wage  
If love is a labor I'll slave 'til the end  
I won't cross these streets until you hold my hand

swing life away  
swing life away  
swing life away  
swing life away"

Melody was surprised at herself. Not only had she never heard that song before, but she had shocked the entire room into silence. Her voice had been on par with an angel's, and she had absolutely no idea how she managed to sing the way she had. Not only that, but a number of times during the song, an image of a huge futuristic stadium full of people had flashed before her eyes, accompanied by a loud booming echoing through her head. And she'd been singing with a purpose, venting emotions she never knew she had. She was a normal kid, having been angry, upset, hurt, happy, amused and a number of other emotions, but never with the intensity that the song brought on. Mrs. Jenson was the first to break the trance everyone seemed to be caught in.

"Melody! Very impressive! Now, who would like to go next?" She asked, turning to face everyone else. They all shrunk back, not entirely eager to have to follow and act like hers.

……………

The class finished rather uneventfully, with Melody realizing half way through the class that the most persistent of emotions to stay with her was a feeling for someone. She didn't know who she could possibly feel so strongly about. She cared for whoever it was, even loved them. And it definitely wasn't her feelings toward Riley. Tegan had been right all along, which was kind of surprising, considering that it was Tegan she was talking about, but she needed to dump Riley. After class, she met up with her best friend on their way home. They wandered down the streets, the clump of people they were walking with eventually branching off towards their residences or the coffee shops or their cars. Soon enough, it was just Melody, Tegan and some random guy that had come from the same Chemistry class as Tegan. He was following them, it seemed, walking a few paces behind them and smirking the whole while. Finally, Tegan stopped and spun, glaring at him.

"What are you doing?" She asked crossly. He shrugged.

"I'm following you." He answered smugly. Tegan's eyes narrowed.

"Why?" She asked sharply, though Tegan trying to sound sharp was more amusing than intimidating. He smirked again, and shrugged again.

"It's frosh week, I can if I want. It's my job to terrorize you freshmans." He answered, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Melody crossed her arms.

"Find some other freshmans to terrorize then. I think you'll find us rather boring to bother." She told him.

"I'm not bored right now." He answered, starting to follow the girls as they walked back to their house. They rounded a corner and found Rochelle standing there. When their stalker saw her, he stopped dead. She crossed her arms.

"Zane, what are you doing?"

"Evenin' Rochelle." He said, avoiding the question. She glared at him.

"What were you doing?" She asked again. Zane shrugged, tossing his blond hair out of his abnormally green eyes.

"I was walking these two lovely ladies home is all." He answered. Tegan glared at him.

"Ahahahaha." She laughed sarcastically. "Nice one. More like you were stalking us." She answered.

"Stalking?" Zane asked, in mock horror. "I was doing no such thing!" Tegan stuck her tongue out at him. Melody smirked. Tegan didn't notice.

"You were terrorizing us, as you put it." She answered. Zane shrugged.

"Like I said, it's frosh week." He replied before turning on his heel and walking away. There was a long silence as Tegan watching him go, seething. Melody inspected her fingernails, smiling mischievously.

"So, will you be asking him out on a date tomorrow or the next day?" She asked non-chalantly. Tegan stared at her.

"Go out with him? More like kill him." She said. Melody shrugged.

"Last time you stuck your tongue out at a guy in an argument, you ended up making out with him the next day." She answered. Tegan started turning red.

"Coincidence." She answered, before stalking off into the house. Melody started to laugh. She and Rochelle walked back into the house to find a very confused Naomi waiting for them. Not long after, Rochelle had to go to a seminar for her classes and Tegan found an excuse to go out to keep Melody from giggling every time they saw each other. So, Naomi and Melody were alone in the house. Upstairs, sitting on the couch, Melody finally realized something.

"Where's Lil?" She asked. As if on cue, a dazed looking Leilani walked into the room and plopped down on the couch between them. Both girls cringed, waiting for the couch to collapse, but let out a sigh of relief when it didn't. Lil was staring off into space, a pained look on her face. Both Melody and Naomi watched her, slightly bewildered.

"Umm, is something wrong, Lil?" Naomi asked after a long while. Lil blinked and smiled, though her smile wasn't very sincere.

"I'm fine." She answered, a little overly brightly. "Want to get something to eat?" She asked. Both Melody and Naomi nodded vigorously. They stood up and walked into the kitchen. While Naomi and Melody prepared sandwiches for themselves, Lil started raiding the cupboards. Both younger girls had prepared and finished their sandwiches by the time she found what she was looking for. When they saw they strange array of things on the counter, they began to think that whatever was wrong with her was much more serious than before. She had an an apple, bean salad, cheese and jubejubes. They stared at her holding her plate.

"She's gone crazy." Naomi whispered. Apparently Lil overheard her and smiled.

"I'm not crazy! I just happen to be craving apples, bean salad, cheese and jubejubes!" She answered, again a bit overly brightly before she sat down at their little table and began to eat. Naomi and Melody stared at each other, then at Lil, and then at each other again, all the while completely and utterly bewildered. They sat with Lil while she ate, and talked of the usual type of things that three girls would talk about. Naomi yawned.

"I'm exhausted." She muttered. Melody smiled.

"I'm not surprised. I couldn't deal with all that exercise you get every day. You must be dancing every other minute of your life!" She answered, clearly impressed. Naomi smiled.

"Well, thanks, I think. I'm going to bed." With that, she stood up and wandered upstairs. Inside her room, she changed into pajamas and crawled into bed. Even if it wasn't that late, she was looking forward to her sleep. She crawled into bed, turned out the light and was fast asleep before she hit the pillow. The moment she fell asleep, her assuredness that her sleep would be the peaceful and restful one was shattered. It didn't take long as she floated in the semi-consciousness of a dream for the life she thought she had to unravel, along with any shred of hope she had left of living out a normal life. Then again, she also began to wonder, in her subconsciousness, how much of a normal life had she wanted anyways?

……………

DUN DUN DUN! Woot! CLIFFY! YES! Review, and maybe you guys are starting to get some lightbulbs going on over your heads as to what my master plan might be :D :D :D


	3. Troy, the one man audience

Yesss! You guys are finally going to get a clue as to what's going on this chapter! As my odd cliffy denoted, dear Naomi is going to have a dream, and damn, are things gonna start coming together! Here we go!

...

Naomi blinked. And then she blinked again. It was hard to tell what was going on. It was black enough that she could be reasonably sure she was still sleeping peacefully, as she had expected, but then she was sure that more often than not, people didn't have conscious thoughts when they were sleeping. And she sure as hell was having conscious thoughts. She let her eyes roam through the darkness, until she saw a dim light approaching her. Or was she approaching it? It was hard to tell. In any case, as it got closer, it looked like it was something radiating light. She pulled her eyes away from it and sat up, to find herself bathed in an unnatural light that didn't seem to originate from anywhere. Looking back up at the approaching light, she saw that it was someone who was bathed in a light similar to hers. The person had long silver hair, and blue eyes unlike any she had ever seen. And on top of it all, he was recognizable. But from where? He seemed surprised to see her.

"Emma?" He asked, eyes wide. Her jaw dropped, but she didn't speak. "I thought you told me you don't dream yourself into the same place twice." He noted slowly. "And whose this Naomi that everyone keeps talking about?" She grasped at her throat, almost trying to physically find her voice.

"I…uhh…" she stopped, completely shocked by the revelation she'd just had. "... I'm Emma…" She breathed, speaking as if saying it aloud would make it final. It seemed to work, and she became a bit more convinced of herself. She looked up at Riku. "What happened to us?" she asked. Riku offered her a hand up, which she took, and began to lead her through the darkness.

"I don't know. I thought you were dead, but an image came up in the crystal. I didn't know who it was, until you looked in a mirror and I saw your reflection. Since then, I've been trying to figure out what happened, but I still can't figure it out." He paused, then looked at her. "Why are you all hiding yourselves?" He asked suddenly. Emma blinked.

"Hiding…? What do you mean?"

"You all act like nothing happened to you; you don't even call each other by your real names." He replied. Emma frowned.

"That's because I don't think anyone remembers what happened. I didn't, until…well, until you called me Emma. Then it all just seemed to come rushing back."

"Of course. They were all supposed to die when they went to Fa'Diel. But you showed up and changed something. You can't remember you lives before your supposed deaths, because you were supposed to have died, so instead, you all got a new life. Your presence at their deaths somehow altered their destinies." He said, stopping and watching her expectantly. Emma's eyes went wide.

"M-me? I changed their destiny?" She asked, staring at him. Riku shrugged.

"I would guess so." As he spoke, the seemingly endless line of blocks came into view. Only, it suddenly seemed not-so endless. Riku ran over, Emma on his heels, and stopped at the new end to the lines of blocks. Emma sat down next to the last set of blocks, catching her breath as Riku carefully looked over them. She watched curiously, and picked up one of the blocks on the line.

"Hey, this has my name on it." She noted casually, turning it over in her hands. Riku looked up at her.

"It does? But you weren't there before." He said, carefully taking it from her. He gasped, horrified, as the block crumbled in his hands. "What?" He stared at the dust settling on the ground. Emma watched him.

"Uhhh…sorry if I broke the square thingy." She said slowly, surprised by his reaction. Riku looked up at her.

"Your….your destiny just broke." He told her. Emma blinked.

"…..huh?"

"These blocks bind the destinies of heroes to what they are destined to eternally fight, the darkness. But…your destiny just broke." He answered, sounding quite disturbed. Emma frowned again. She wasn't sure that she liked the idea of her destiny suddenly breaking. She reached carefully out to the next block, and gently picked it up. She had just enough time to see that it had 'Sora' engraved on it before it too crumbled. She touched a third, that said 'Kairi' on it, and this time it crumbled upon her finger coming in contact with it. As the dust settled upon the one next to it, even that seemed enough to cause it to crumble, the one that had 'Yuna' on it. After that, it was a chain reaction, though it was only that column that was affected by the crumbling. Emma cringed.

"Ummmm, maybe we should just leave them alone. They seem kind of fragile." She noted, edging away from them. Riku nodded, and they started towards the crystal. Emma was rubbing her hands together, trying to keep from seeming nervous, but apparently it didn't work.

"Hey, are you okay?" Riku asked. "You're going to rub your hands raw if you keep doing that." He told her, taking her wrists and pulled her hands apart. She sighed.

"Do you know what's going to happen to me? Now that I don't have a destiny?" She asked quietly. Riku shook his head apologetically.

"I wish I did." He said slowly. Then, he seemed to get an idea. "Hey, Yuna spoke more than once to a boy called the Fayth. He seemed to know a lot about destinies and things like that. Maybe you can see if she can contact him again." He suggested. Emma shook her head.

"Yuna still thinks she's Lil." She answered simply. Riku looked thoughtful for a moment.

"But didn't you say that you remembered everything once you called were called by your name? Just call her Yuna and she should remember too, right?" He answered. Emma nodded.

"That should work. But if it doesn't?"

"Uh, I guess you could try and get Paine or Rikku or Kairi to remember and then they can help you." He answered. Emma nodded.

"Now, all I have to do is wait to wake up." She told him, not quite expecting what would happen when she did.

………………………………

Riku watched in the crystal as Lil came into Naomi's room and woke her. Naomi's eyes flickered open, and his face fell when he heard the first words from her lips.

"Lil? Oh, I was just having the weirdest dream…but I don't remember what it was about…"

………………………………

It was past midnight, and Lil was walking back to the house. There was a 24-hour clinic on campus, which, at this point, she was both thankful for and unthankful for. She stepped into the house, and shut the door quietly, with all intention of going straight to bed, but as she walked up the stairs, she decided that she needed to talk to someone. So, as quietly as possible, she slipped into Naomi's room, both because hers was the closest to the stairs and because she had been the first to go to bed and so would probably be the most awake to deal with Lil's 'news'.

"Naomi." She whispered, gently shaking the sleeping figure. Naomi began to mutter in her sleep.

"I…broke it…" She breathed unintelligibly. Lil sighed and tried again. This time, Naomi woke up, and rubbed her eyes.

"Lil? Oh, I was just having the weirdest dream…but I don't remember what it was about…" She said. Then she saw the look on Lil's face. "What's wrong?"

"Can I talk to you?" Lil asked quietly. Naomi nodded. Just then, a light flickered on outside the door. Lil and Naomi peek out into the hall to see Tegan walking towards them. She smiled.

"Evening. I was up for a midnight snack. You two hungry too?" She asked. Naomi shook her head. Lil muttered a quick no. Tegan paused.

"Hey, you guys okay?" She asked. Naomi looked at Lil, who sighed.

"Let's go downstairs. I need to talk to you guys." At that, the three of them walked downstairs. Tegan walked into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of milk. Lil sat down at the table, crossed her arms and buried her face in them. Naomi sat next to her, watching her worriedly. Tegan sat down on the other side of Lil and waited patiently. Lil mumbled something into her arms.

"Lil, we can't hear you." Tegan told her. Pouting, Lil lifted her head.

"I went to the clinic, you know, to clear my mind a little." She started.

"Clear your mind of what?" Naomi asked, deciding she didn't like where this was going.

"Ummm, I was a little late this month. I went to make sure I wasn't…" Her voice trailed off and she seemed to momentarily loose the will to speak. Tegan was biting her lip.

"Annie, what's wrong?" Tegan asked. (AN: Tegan calls Lil Annie. There's a reason for that, whish you may or may not have already guessed.) Lil sighed.

"I'm…umm…pr..egnant." She said, having a hard time getting the words out. There was a long silence. Then, Naomi spoke.

"Do you know who…?" She began, too shocked to get the rest of the words out. Lil's eyes dropped.

"That's just it. I've never…I mean, I was pretty sure I was still a virgin…." She mumbled. There was another long silence. No one noticed Melody walking swiftly down the stairs and out the door, not hearing the conversation in the kitchen.

She walked down the street, picking up pace, surprised by how chilly it was outside. She was becoming an insomniac, and she found that playing an instrument was very calming, and helped her sleep. The only instrument she even remotely knew how to play was a piano, and there was one in her music room. Mrs. Jenson left a key to the room in an envelope in her mailbox. Melody quietly slipped into the room, savouring the silence brought on by the soundproofing. She sat down on the piano bench playing a few random chords and keys. She decided she liked the sound of the chords she'd put together. She had a talent for taking simple piano harmonies and putting melodies and words to them as she played. She'd made up countless songs that way, even if she'd never written any of them down. She hit a few more keys, then paused, clearing her throat and creating a rhythm in her mind.

"And dreams came around you in a hazy rain  
You opened your mouth wide to feel them fall  
And I write a letter, from a one-way train  
But i don't think you'll read it at all

And globes and maps are all around me now  
I wanna feel you breathe me  
Globes and maps I see surround you here  
Why won't you believe me?  
Globes and maps they chart your way back home"

She stopped singing, cutting off the piano and lettings silence settle over the room once again. She thought she heard a movement and spun around, not liking to think what kind of trouble she'd be in. After all, she really wasn't supposed to be in there, and didn't have any doubt that she was technically breaking and entering. Even if there was almost no doubt Mrs. Jenson would press charges against her or anything like that. She couldn't see anyone there. Shaking her head, she returned to the piano. Almost instantly, a new song formed in her mind, and she started to play.

"The moon is shining now  
And shadows are what's left of all the noise  
simple silhouettes and cut outs  
As if we had a choice  
she listens closely now  
swears that she can hear a voice  
that's calling her.  
and saying  
Hey now the straw dog's out in the street  
Hey now there's chemicals in the clouds  
Hey now there calling all the police  
but they won't get to us anyhow"

There was another silence. There was another sound of movement. She ignored it. It seemed that it wasn't as imaginary as she'd thought, because when she didn't turn around, there was another sound of movement, as if whoever or whatever was making it was sure she hadn't heard the first. She ignored it again, but when the third sound came, she did spin around in her seat and caught sight of something. Whoever it was stepped deftly into the shadows as her eyes settled on them. She paused, her eyes narrowing on the thin strip of shadow where they were hiding. She saw another movement.

"Hey." She spoke before she knew what she was doing. The person froze. "How long have you been here for?" She asked, wondering how much of her singing they'd heard.

"Long enough." The voice answered. They stepped out of the shadows, creating a silhouette in the moonlight. Same age as she was, he had a shag of brown hair, and seemed much less on edge about the impromptu meeting than she was. She crossed his arms. "Why don't you ever write down anything you sing?" He asked. She paused, surprised, and then stood up, more relaxed now that she realized he was just another student and not faculty.

"So, you come often to my performances?' She asked in reply. He shrugged.

"If I can help it. Sure beats sitting around doing nothing when I can't sleep." He answered. "My name's Troy." He said. She smiled.

"I'm Melody." She told him. He grinned.

"Appropriate." He said off-handedly. She shrugged.

"That's getting a little old." She answered. "Being in a music program, I hear that a little too often." She explained. He nodded.

"Hey Melody!" A voice shouted. Melody turned and saw Riley standing outside the door. Tegan's warning blared through her mind. 'you're gonna be really sorry when a guy that you really do want to go out with comes along and you have to tell him that you're already going out with Riley'. _I hate it when Tegan's right!_ She decided.

"Excuse me, I'll be right back." She said quickly to Troy, walking quickly out into the hall. Riley crossed his arms.

"Who's that?" He asked sharply. Melody shot him a weird look.

"His name is Troy, why?" She asked.

"Damn it! I knew you were cheating on me!" He whispered furiously. Melody's eyes went wide.

"I'm what…?" She asked, confused. Then it dawned on her that her talking to some guy in the music room after midnight might look a little bit suspicious. She didn't say anything while Riley ranted angrily in a whisper. She didn't bother denying it. There wasn't any way she could ever convince him otherwise.

"That's it. We're over. Finished." He said, watching her and waiting for a reaction. She blinked.

"Oh. Uhh….oh." She muttered, not sure of what to say. Frowning, Riley turned on his heel and left. Troy peered into the hallway.

"Should I…umm…go?" He asked, clearly uncomfortable. He hadn't heard the conversation, but it was obvious that Riley was mad. Melody shrugged.

"No, not if you don't want to." She answered, walking back into the music room and sitting on the piano bench. Troy walked over to her.

"Are you going to sing something else?" He asked. Melody shook her head.

"I can't make one up on the spot, you know, for someone else." She told him. He frowned.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable or anything. I hope I didn't ruin it."

"Nah, it's alright." She answered. She yawned. "Looks like I'm getting over my sleeplessness. I should head back to the house now, but I'll see you later, right?"

"Yeh, for sure."


	4. The big important dream

Melody returned to the house, and this time noticed how odd it was that the kitchen lights were on. She poked her head in to turn them off, but froze when she saw Lil crying softly and Tegan and Naomi helplessly trying to comfort her.

"What…happened?" Melody asked, stepping into the room.

"Lil's p…pregnant." Naomi whispered. Melody's eyes went wide.

"By who!" She asked quickly, sitting down.

"We don't know." Naomi answered sadly.

"She's done that many guys?" Melody asked, immediately regretting saying it. "Sorry, I didn't mean it to come out that way." She said, hanging her head. Naomi smiled sadly.

"It's okay. But that's the problem. She says she hasn't. Ever." She answered with a sigh. Melody blinked.

"She…doesn't remember doing anything with someone at all?" She asked, frowning. Naomi shook her head, and Melody squeezed her eyes shut pushing out all the terrible theories coming into her head about how this could possibly have happened. Tegan went upstairs to wake Rochelle; it was decided that everyone needed to know what was going on. All five girls sat in the kitchen, talking quietly until dawn the next morning. By then, Melody and Naomi had both dozed off, resting their heads in their arms. Lil was exhausted, and Tegan and Rochelle were only awake because they drank a huge amount of coffee, and if they drank any more, both would likely explode. Thankfully for them, only Tegan had class today, and she didn't have any in the morning. All of them dragged themselves up the stairs and into bed, Lil not even bothering to change into pajamas. And even more thankfully for all of them, Naomi dreamt of a dark place again.

"Emma?" Riku asked, seeing her figure emerge from the darkness. She froze in place, once again all her memories coming rushing back to her. Then, she swore very loudly, not exactly a characteristic thing for her to do, but nonetheless an action with good reason.

"Why did I forget again?" She asked. "How could I possibly have forgotten!" She was clearly upset with herself. Riku cringed.

"Don't get so mad about it. I think I know the reason behind it all now." He told her. She instantly went quiet.

"The reason? That we forgot you mean?" She asked.

"The reason that everything happened. Everything has a final destiny, even fate itself. Everything is destined to leave the world at some time, and it seems now is fate's time. Your destinies are broken because that would allow you to fight the Fates." He stated, but then Emma interrupted him.

"Woah, what do you mean, fight the Fates? I have to fight the Fates?" She asked.

"Not just you, all of us." He answered.

"Oh, all nine of us then. I guess it helps that we already have experience fighting divinities." She said, a hint of bitterness in her voice. Then something dawned on her. _He said all of **us**…_ "You too?" She asked. Riku nodded.

"See, there's a prophesy, one that I thought Sora and Kairi and the others were supposed to fulfill. Ten hearts, four worlds, one fate. Sora, Kairi, Yuna, Tidus, Rikku, Gippal, Paine, Baralai, Nooj and Leblanc. From the Destiny Islands, Zanarkand and Spira to save Fa'Diel. Their fate was to die fighting the Goddess." Emma interrupted him again.

"But there were only nine of us when we fought the Goddess. And who are Nooj and Leblanc?" She asked.

"Nooj and Leblanc were friends from Spira, but Nooj was injured, so both stayed behind. Then I thought the two who would take their place would be Lisa and Bud, or Larc and Sierra or Pearl and Elazul, but none of them did. So, the prophesy wasn't fulfilled. But I think now, that you, me and the eight others are to be the ones to fulfill the prophesies, coming from four different worlds, to bring the Fates their destiny. And now, the Fates are fighting back. They know who you are, what you are meant to do, so they created our destinies so that we would all be dead before we got the chance to fight them, but now we've broken our destinies, no longer bound to them so they've made you forget who you are to keep you from finding out what you need to do."

"But you remember who you are."

"And I'm locked in here because this is the fate they wrote for me." He answered. Emma frowned.

"But how are we supposed to fight them with you stuck in here?"

"Sora still has the power to let me out, he just hasn't found out how yet."

"Speaking of Sora…where are the guys? I can make the girls remember who they are by just calling them by their names, but how are we supposed to find the guys? We have no idea where they are, and Earth's a big planet to search for them." Her face fell. "I mean, that's assuming that they're actually even on Earth." She said slowly. Riku smiled slightly.

"Hey, that's what the crystal's for, right?" He said, helping her up and walking towards the crystal. "Show me Sora." He ordered. An image flickered to life inside the crystal. It was a bleary-eyed teen who looked like he just woke up. Emma squinted at it.

"Hey! That's on the campus!" She said, breathing a sigh of relief. Sora wandered out into another room. Emma grinned. "There's Gippal and Tidus, too. Baralai's probably around there somewhere. That makes our search a lot easier." She said, sitting down. Then she frowned. "Wait, how am I supposed to know to search for them if I can't even remember who I am when I wake up?"

"I guess we'll have to find some way to get someone to call you Emma." He answered. Emma pouted.

"How are we ever going to get that to happen?" She asked. Still pouting, she screwed her face up in thought. Riku started laughing. She glared at him, relaxing her face.

"I'm sorry." He said, trying to catch his breath. "But your face…" He started laughing again. Emma looked horrified.

"What's wrong with my face!" She asked urgently. Riku started laughing even harder. She crossed her arms and waited impatiently for him to calm down.

"There's nothing wrong with your face, just your expression. You looked kind of like this." He twisted his face into a very awkward expression. Emma grinned.

"Are you trying to stretch your mouth bigger than it already is or something?" She asked sweetly. Riku grinned, then frowned, realizing the jab she took at him.

"Hey, my mouth's not that big. Though I think Sora might argue with me on that." He answered.

"So would I." Emma told him, still grinning. Then, her face lit up. "Hey! I got it!"

"Got what?" Riku asked, bewildered.

"I know I remember who I am when I hear my name, but you think it could be because there are strong memories tied to my name? Maybe it's just a strong memory that I need to get my memories back. Like if we were to make something with a big impact on me happen here, then when it happens to me when I'm awake, I'll remember this dream, and then I'll remember who I am!" She said. Riku stared at her.

"I really don't follow…" he admitted.

"If something was to happen to me here that would have a big impact on me, then when something similar happens to me when I'm awake, it would make me remember…oh wait, that won't work." She said, hanging her head. Riku straightened up.

"No, no, I get what you mean, why wouldn't it work?"

"Because what kind of thing can happen here that would have that big an impact on me? And how do we know that anything will happen to me while I'm awake that would be close enough to remind me of this dream? And even if it does happen, it may not happen for months, or even years." She answered, then sighed. "It seemed like a good idea when I first thought of it."

"No, it is a good idea, and besides, it's the only one we have." Riku answered, trying to sound reassuring, though from Emma's expression he could tell his efforts were in vain. He sighed. "Well, we have to make sure that it will happen to you when you're awake, and that it will happen soon, so…hmmm, what are you going to be doing in the next week or so?" He asked. Emma shrugged.

"Nothing life changing." She answered. Riku lay back on the ground.

"Well, I guess tell me anyways, then maybe we can think of something from there. Who knows, something mundane might have a big enough impact to get you to remember."

So, Emma sat there, listing all her classes, all the people in her classes, and together they thought up random things that might have a big enough impact that could happen to her in class. They spent what felt like forever creating random scenarios, and decided they should try something other than class when the scenarios developed into things like 'what if the chair I was sitting on somehow broke and I fell and broke my leg, so I'd have to stop dancing for the year?' and other ideas that were clearly never going to happen. Emma was lying on her stomach, pouting again.

"Even if I did break a chair, I don't think you can break a limb that badly falling off it." Riku sighed.

"Well, I guess you never know." He answered

"And even if it did happen, what can we do here to create that memory in the first place?" She asked.

"Maybe just coming up with idea is enough." He suggested, though both of them knew it wasn't true.

"Maybe that nasty Heartless that took over the goddess will come back from revenge." She said, knowing that the idea was unbelievably farfetched, but not really caring. Riku smirked.

"That thing's long dead. The goddess took care of it after Kairi collapsed." He answered. Emma sat up.

"So it really is dead then… that's good." She answered, for lack of anything else to say. He looked at her.

"So, what else do you do to pass the time?" He asked. Emma shrugged.

"I dunno. I'm going to wake up soon, anyways. I guess I'll see you tonight." She said. Riku frowned, not sure that he should voice his concern.

"What if you don't dream yourself into here again?" He asked. Emma bit her lip.

"Well, I have been for the past few nights, and I guess we'd just better hope for all our sakes that I do." She answered, not sounding too terribly sure of herself.

She did. For the next number of nights, she dreamt herself into the darkness and visited Riku. They spent most of their time the same way, though because the apparent hopelessness of the situation hadn't fully set in yet, they usually ended up trying to see who could come up with the most farfetched, amusing idea for a memory for Emma. It was early Friday morning, and Emma knew she was about to wake up. She laughed in spite of herself. Every day, she found herself wanting to go to bed earlier and earlier, though during the day she never did understand why. Riku was watching her, confused.

"What's so funny?" He asked. Emma shrugged.

"Nothing important." Then, a very, very, very important thought dawned on her. "Hey! I have a date tonight!" She said suddenly. Riku sat up, interested.

"You do?"

"Yup. You think that might be something we could use to get me to remember who I am?" She asked, excited. Riku shrugged.

"Maybe, but we'll have to go fast, you said you'd be waking up soon." He answered.

"What do you think we can do?" She asked. There was silence for a moment, and stillness. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he tilted her face up to his and kissed her.

Naomi's eyes snapped open. Her alarm clock was beeping loudly and annoyingly. She hit it a couple of times before she managed to get the snooze button. She flopped back down into bed. She'd been having odd dreams that she could never seem to remember recently, and they always gave her an odd sensation, like there was a hole in her memory. This time though, she woke up feeling different. Her lips were tingling and her heart was beating out of her chest. Closing her eyes, she tried to remember what happened in her dream. All that did was make her heart beat even harder. Sighing, she crawled out of bed and started getting ready for her classes, but she fumbled with her things and couldn't focus very well. Shaking her head to try and clear out the fogginess, she decided she needed a strong cup of coffee, wrapped herself in her housecoat and wandered out into the kitchen.


	5. Remembering

Naomi and Greg were walking back to the girls' house. She was smiling and laughing with him, but it was rather insincere, as she found him to be a bit of a bore. Stopping at the door, Naomi wished him a quick goodnight and started unlocking the door.

"Wait." Greg spoke quickly. Naomi turned to face him, curious. He was bright red, she could tell even in the dark. Smiling nervously, he kissed her. It hit her like a brick wall, and the first thought that raced through her head was _IT WORKED!_ She wasn't exactly sure of what was going on, and she needed to sort through her thoughts first and foremost. She broke his kiss early, and muttered a quick goodbye before letting herself into the house. She closed the door and leaned back against it, rubbing her temples. _Remembering everything kind of hurts when I'm awake. _She noted. Looking around, she smiled in spite of herself.

"I know you're probably watching Riku." She muttered. "And don't worry, his kiss wasn't nearly as good as yours." She grinned. Then another thought hit her. Setting off at a sprint, she skidded into the kitchen. To her relief, she found just the person she was looking for, sitting at the table eating a strange assortment of foods.

"Yuna!" She cried. Yuna dropped her sandwich and stared up at her. "Yuna, it was Tidus!" Emma announced excitedly. Yuna stood up suddenly, knocking the chair over. Both girls started squealing and hugged each other.

"Emma!" Yuna shouted, laughing. She stopped suddenly and looked at Emma very seriously. "How did you ever remember?" She asked.

"I'll tell you later, when we have everybody. Where are Rikku and Paine and Kairi?"

"Tegan-er-Rikku went out somewhere, she wasn't exactly very clear about it. Paine's upstairs, I think. Kairi should be too." At that, both of them went racing up the stairs, shouting.

"Paine!"

"Kairi!" Hearing the racket, Paine came running out of her room. Once she saw them, her eyes went wide.

"Yuna! Emma! Explain, now." She ordered. Emma shrugged.

"Later, I'll explain to everyone at once instead of eight different times. Where's Kairi?" They searched the upstairs, but to no avail. She wasn't anywhere. They search downstairs. Again, she was nowhere.

"Where did she go?" Yuna asked, catching her breath from all the running around the house.

"She's probably still on campus, there isn't anything to do worth walking all the way into the city for." Paine answered. Yuna nodded.

"If she's in the Music Dept. for any reason, Emma, you look there, you know your way around there the best. I'm going to search the library. Paine, you search all the hangouts." She ordered.

"We'll meet back here in an hour or so. Hopefully we'll find Rikku in our travels." Paine said. Then, all three of them headed out of the house and went their separate ways.

………………………………….

Melody had been spending the last few nights in the music room, just as she had before, but each night Troy always showed up to keep her company, and she'd been teaching him the little be she knew about how to play a piano. Melody had told him that the reason she never wrote down her songs was because she was terrible at musical notation and figured it would do anything but relax her. And so, as repayment for being taught how to play the piano, Troy offered to write the music for her. The two got along famously, though they rarely saw each other during the day, as Troy, who was in a carpentry and cabinet-making program, spent his day in classes at the other end of the campus. Tonight though, Melody was in the music room alone. She was spending her time waiting by creating little bits and pieces of songs, like she always did. She paused, after finishing her latest song, and checked her watch. He certainly was taking longer than usual. She sighed. Maybe he wasn't coming tonight. She was kind of disappointed, but decided to continue singing. She placed her fingers on the keys, and froze, feeling a presence behind her. Turning around slowly, she scanned the room and saw no one. She shook off the feeling, and started to play and sing, though she was surprised at herself, it wasn't what she had been intending to sing.

"Goodnight, sleep tight  
No more tears  
In the morning I'll be here  
And when we say goodnight,  
Dry your eyes  
Because we said goodnight,  
And not goodbye  
We said goodnight  
And not goodbye"

An image of someone standing on water that reflected the glow of a city flashed before her eyes. She thought that the person looked kind of like Troy, but decided that it was a figment of her imagination. A noise behind her drew her attention. Turning, she smiled.

"Evening, Troy." She greeted. He didn't answer. He was staring openly at her. He opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again when he found he had no voice. Melody blinked at him, standing up.

"Are…you okay?" She asked slowly. This time when he opened his mouth, he managed to get one word out.

"…Kairi…" He breathed. Melody looked a bit bewildered.

"Who's Kairi?" She asked slowly. His face fell.

"You don't remember?" He asked. She looked even more bewildered now.

"…remember what?"

"Anything." He answered worriedly. "The Islands. Fa'Diel. Traverse Town. The Heartless. Goofy, Donald, Leon, Yuffie, Cloud, Arieth, Yuna, Tidus, Rikku, Gippal, Paine, Baralai, Emma. Riku.…me." Melody walked over to him.

"Are you sure you're feeling okay?" She asked, sincerely worried. He sighed. Just then, the door flung open.

"Kairi!" The person shouted. "Sora!" She shouted again, upon seeing him sitting there. Melody froze.

"Oh, not you too, Naomi." She said, sighing. Emma stopped.

"But…" she walked over to them. Sora frowned.

"She doesn't remember anything." He told her. Emma sat down next to him.

"But…but, how? Why not? I said her name…"

"What does her name have anything to do with it?" Sora asked. Emma shrugged.

"When any of us hear our name, it carries enough memory with it to make us remember what happened. It worked with Yuna and Paine, and you. I don't understand why she doesn't remember."

"Actually, I remembered when I heard her singing. I had a dream once, where I saw her in Zanarkand, sitting by the water."

"What's Zanarkand?" Emma asked.

"A huge city. It glows even at night." He answered. Melody slapped her hand over her mouth, muffling a gasp. Both of them looked at her.

"It _was_ you." She whispered. Sora stood up.

"You remember?" He asked. Melody shrugged.

"I dunno. When I finished singing that song, I saw you standing on the water, and I saw the reflection of a huge, glowing city on the water. It was like an image flashing before my eyes, sort of." She said slowly. Emma sighed.

"Come on, let's go find Yuna and Paine. Maybe they'll be able to help." She said, then looked at Melody. "Do you know where Rikku, I mean, Tegan is?" She asked. Melody started laughing.

"Yah, I saw her sneaking off with that Zane guy." She answered. Sora looked up suddenly.

"Zane? That's Gippal!" He answered. Emma grinned.

"Looks like even near death couldn't keep those two apart. Or you two either, I guess." She said, laughing when Sora started turning red. Melody had given up on being confused and decided to just go with whatever it was that Naomi and Troy, or apparently Emma and Sora, were talking about. She followed them dumbly out of the building.

"Yuna's in the library, I guess she'll be easiest to find." Emma said. Sora nodded.

"Hey, Caden, sorry, I mean, Tidus is in the dorm still, should we go get him?" they took a slight detour, to find no one was left in the dorm room. There were sticky notes stuck on the inside of the door.

_Gone out. If I'm not back by 11:00, come looking to make sure Rochelle hasn't killed me for taking Tegan out with me. Zane_

_Gone looking for Zane, hoping Rochelle hasn't killed him yet. Everett_

_I'll bring the coffee back in the morning. I'm off pulling an all-nighter to write my essay at the library. Caden._

_Out for a walk, be back whenever. Troy._

Emma and Melody both shot Sora a weird look.

"It's just in case one of us comes back to an empty place like right now, so we don't end up believing our roommates have been abducted by aliens or something." He explained. Emma decided that the idea was as farfetched as the ideas her and Riku were coming up with in the dream. They shut the door again and headed out of the dorm.

"Hopefully Yuna finds Tidus while she's looking." Emma said to no one in particular.

"What's she looking for?" Melody asked offhandedly.

"You, actually." Emma answered. Melody turned a little red.

"Oh, I guess I kind of should have told you guys I was leaving then." She murmured. Sora grinned.

"Which is exactly why we have our sticky notes." Reaching the library, they frowned.

"Five stories to search. This will take more than a little while."

"HEY GUUUUYYYYS!" A voice shouted. They turned around and saw Rikku running towards them, dragging Gippal along behind her.

"Rikku! Where are we going?" He asked, a little bit angry. Finally able to see them, he grinned.

"Hey guys!" They stopped to catch their breath once they reached the group. Rikku made a face.

"I know what we're about to tell you will probably sound a little crazy, but I'm sure you guys will remember when we're done."

"We already remember." Emma answered. Rikku blinked.

"Oh."

"Except me." Melody answered sadly. Both Rikku and Gippal looked at her.

"You don't remember?" Gippal asked, confused.

"But even Sora's here! You have to remember him!" Rikku told her. Melody shook her head. Emma cleared her throat.

"We should leave the matter alone for now, I think." She said, and so it was decided. Walking into the library, they did a quick search of the first floor, which didn't have much but administration facilities in it, and it was decided that they should all split up and everyone search a different floor. Getting into the elevator, they all got off on each floor, one by one, until only Melody and Sora were left. It was then that they realized that there was one too many people. Melody had her suspicions that it was planned this way, to get her to remember whatever it was that she was forgetting. The two of them walked through the top floor, though it was an easier search than the rest of them had. The majority of this floor was covered in desks for study groups and things like that. Finished their search, Melody sat down on one of the desks and looked out the window. Sora came to sit next to her. She sighed.

"I'm sorry I don't remember." She said quietly. Sora shook his head.

"It's not your fault. I just wish we could find out why you don't remember and everyone else does." He answered. She looked at him.

"Can you…tell me what I forgot? Even if I don't remember it, I still want to know." She told him, still sounding a little upset. Sora nodded.

"Well, your name is Kairi…"

……………………A few hours ago…………………….

Tegan walked into the party and grinned. Zane stepped in behind her. There were people packed into every square inch of the room. They walked up to a group of guys, who greeted Zane. These were apparently friends of his. One of them started eying Tegan and grinned.

"Ohh, who's this babe? Why were we never introduced?" He asked. Zane rolled his eyes.

"Andy, Tegan. Tegan, Andy." He said. The other guys started piping up, and Zane introduced her to the rest of them.

A while into the party, Tegan spotted a couch with no one sitting on it, and flopped down on it. Zane leaned against the wall.

"It's rude to take up a whole couch when there are other people waiting to sit down." He noted. Sticking her tongue out at him, she moved a little to allow him space to sit down. "So, what brings you to NNYU this year?" He asked offhandedly.

"I'm looking to have some fun with losers like you." She told him with a grin. He smirked.

"Ouch, that's cold." He answered.

"So, tired of your stalking me yet?" She asked.

"I never stalked you." He answered, sounding insincerely hurt.

"Oh sure, because following someone home when they asked you not to is totally not stalking." She answered sarcastically.

"You never asked me not to." He said, grinning.

"I did so!"

"Actually, you never did." He told her. Tegan gave up on arguing, and pouted. Zane smirked. "Are you always this easy to--." He started, but Tegan interrupted him.

"Don't call me easy!" She ordered. Zane sighed.

"I never did, I wasn't finished talking yet." He answered. Then, grinning, he continued. "But now that you mention it…" She found his arm wrapping around her waist and pulling her to him. She made a face.

"You're a loser." She told him again, though she made no effort to move out of his grasp. He smirked.

"And how far would you go with a loser?" He asked. Tegan raised her eyebrows at him, smiling slightly.

"I don't kiss and tell." She answered.

"Well, at least I know I can get that far." He answered, still smirking. Tegan's eyes were locked with his, and she was wearing a facial expression that seemed to just dare him. Their lips barely touched, when she just about jumped in surprise.

"Gippal?" She asked. He was looking back at her, and smiled.

"You remember?" He asked in reply. She nodded. Then she burst out laughing.

"AHA! I always knew that eye-patch was a fake!" She told him, grinning. Gippal rolled his eyes.

"Leave it to you, Rikku, to say something like that right now." He said, sounding exasperated. She giggled and threw her arms around his neck.

"Awww! My Gippaw-wippaw wuvs me!" She said. He glared at her.

"If you ever call me that again _you're_ going to be the one with the eye-patch, and you _will _need it." He said darkly. Rikku laughed.

"Aww, is Gippaw-wippaw fweatening me?" She asked. He grabbed hold of her arms and she yelped, laughing. He pinned her down on the couch beneath him and started kissing her. She giggled. "I thought you were going to poke my eye out." She told him. He shrugged.

"I changed my mind." he answered simply. She let him kiss her some more, but then gasped, pushing him off her and jumping to her feet.

"We have to find Yunie!" She announced. He blinked at her, not quite able to process what she'd just said. She grabbed him by the hand, pulled him up off the couch and pulled him across the room and out the door.

………………………………

It was the fifth place she'd been to, and it was threatening to rain. Paine sighed as the pushed the door to the bar open and started outside. She walked down the street, not paying much attention to where she was going when she nearly walked into someone.

"Excuse me."

"Sorry." The person paused.

"Hey Rochelle, you haven't killed Zane yet, have you?" He asked. Paine blinked, unsure of who the person was.

"No, you haven't seen Kai-I mean Melody around, have you?"

"No, I kind of thought you'd be out looking for Tegan." He answered.

"No, why?"

"Uhhhh, because she's out with Zane." He answered quietly. Paine was about to explode, but then she realized just who Tegan and Zane were.

"Oh, okay." She answered simply.

"You're not angry?"

"Nope."

"Oh, Zane was worried you'd kill him. Anyways, I don't have much to worry about then, so I guess I should go back to the dorm. Maybe you should come, one of the guys might have seen Melody." All of a sudden it clicked.

"Baralai!"

……………………………………

Yuna was wandering through the library, deciding that it was taking way too long to search the whole place. She'd given up completely on being quiet like she was supposed to, and was trotting down the rows of books, shouting at the top of her lungs.

"Kairi! Kairi! Are you here?"

"I know you're probably not expecting anyone to be in here at this hour, but I am trying to work." A voice shouted back to her over the book shelves. She blinked in surprise, and poked her head out of the row she was standing in, looking up and down the aisle.

"Hey, who's there?" She asked, walking through the immense bookshelves, trying to find the source of the voice.

"It's Caden, over here, and I only have the next five hours or so to write my essay." He answered. Yuna turned a corner and saw him sitting at a desk with books piled up all around him, to the point where all she could see what random bits of his blonde hair that were sticking up. She knew who he was.

"Tidus." She whispered. He stopped, and then pushed some of his books out of the way to see her. A small opening appeared in the mounds of paper and he looked out at her, his mouth wide open in surprise. There was a long silence, broken only when innumerable amounts of books fell off the table, crunching all over the floor. Tidus finally seemed to have found his voice, though apparently was still re-gathering his brain.

"No way…" He said dumbly. A small smile appeared on Yuna's lips.

"Hey," She greeted him quietly, her smiled widening. Tidus looked down at his paper and made a face.

"Writing was never my forte anyways."

"YUNIE! You found Tidus!" A voice shouted. Both turned around to see Rikku coming racing towards them.

…………………………..

Okay, so this is a random place to stop, but I figure I might as well stop here, otherwise this chapter will go on FOREVER!


	6. teensyweensy problem

YAY! I LOVE ALL MY REVIEWERS!

……………………….

Both Sora and Melody had completely lost track of time sitting in the library. Neither of them knew how long it had been, though both would have been surprised at how long it was taking the others to search the library. Melody had insisted that Sora start from the very beginning, from the first time he met her. He told her all about the islands, about their lost friend Riku, about the Secret Place and the mysterious door that lay within it. He told her about their raft, and about the strange storm, about the Heartless crawling all over the island, and about him finding her like a ghost in the Secret Place. He told her how the Islands were destroyed, how he met Donald and Goofy, how he stumbled across Riku in Traverse Town, without her. He told her about Maleficent poisoning Riku's mind, about traveling the planets in search of her and the missing King, locking the worlds on their way. He told her of monkeys and mermaids and of a bear of very little brain. He told her about having to fight Riku, even if that was the last thing he'd ever wanted to do. He told her of the End of the World, and Ansem, and Riku being locked in the darkness. And, he told her how her heart had been stolen, and how he'd given his to save her. Melody was astonished.

"You…really did that…for me?" She asked, scarcely breathing. Sora nodded, muttering something about it not being that big a deal. She sighed. "I wish I had been there to help you lock the worlds. I wish I hadn't been so helpless." She decided, looking out over the dark campus. Sora grinned.

"That's what you said last time I found you again." He told her, deciding afterwards that the comment made very little sense.

"The last time you found me…again?" She asked. Sora nodded.

"This is the third time I've been separated from you in less than likable circumstances, and the third time we've managed to find each other again." He answered. She knew that the first time they were separated was when the Islands were destroyed, and the second time was when the Islands were rebuilt and Sora disappeared. But he hadn't even told her how they found each other again after the second time. She had assumed this was how they'd found each other again after the Islands were rebuilt, but apparently not.

"We'll tell me what happened after that." She urged him. He grinned.

"Alright. See, Donald and Goofy and I ended up on a planet we'd never seen before. It was on the outskirts of the Kingdom, and had managed to escape the Heartless attack. As it turned out, the place was inhabited by dwarves. They said a villainous woman in a castle had tried to kill them, but they'd managed to take care of her themselves. And there was a woman there who called herself Snow White. Anyway, the dwarf called Doc pointed us in what he said was the right direction to get back to the Islands, but he pointed us the completely wrong way. It took us a long time to figure out how to get back again. Once we did though, you were already gone through that door in the Secret Place looking for me. You said you found Riku in there, and that he took you to a door, saying that there were people on the other side who would get you to me. You ended up in the city called Zanarkand, and met up with Yuna, Rikku and Paine there." He told her about what he knew of the adventures in Zanarkand and finding Tidus there. He also told her about him ending up in Luca, and about him dreaming about her in the city. He told her about meeting up with Gippal, Nooj and Baralai, and about Donald and Goofy having to leave. He told her about the distress call from LeBlanc, and about finding her and the girls already there and surrounded by bandits hired by Logos and Ormi. He told her about her fight with Logos, and about how, because she had the mercy to leave him alive, he'd shot her. He talked about Luca some more, and he talked about going back to Traverse Town to find it empty. He told her about how they found Leon and Cloud and Areith, and about how, when they found out Yuffie was missing, they went looking for her and about how she, Kairi, had been the one to save her. He told her about Nooj's injury, and about how they'd gone to the Castle to see Donald and Goofy, and to give Nooj, Leblanc, Leon, Yuffie, Cloud and Areith a safe place to stay. Then he told her about the King's prophesy about her voice, and about going to Fa'Diel, and the big explosion that had set them on course for their latest big adventure. He told her about meeting the Jumi and helping them hunt the Jewel Hunter, about becoming caught in a demon's plan to return to the land of the living, about Emma appearing out of a dream, and about finding their way to the Heartless Goddess.

"We beat her, right?" Melody asked anxiously. Sora shrugged.

"I really don't know. She was still alive – weak, but still alive – when I died, or whatever it was," he answered. Melody stared at him.

"You died?" She asked.

"Well, not quite, but it definitely felt like I was dying at the time." He told her. She sighed.

"Then I guess I'll have to ask one of the others about what happened to her." She decided. Sora shook his head.

"No one else will know. After I fell, you were the only one left. You were singing, and the rest of us fell protecting you, because your voice was the only thing that seemed to have any effect on her."

"Oh no…" Melody whimpered. "If it was only me left, I have no doubt she's still alive and at large."

"Why?" He asked curiously.

"Because how could I have ever fought a goddess? I couldn't hurt a fly, even if I tried." She answered. He crossed his arms.

"I think you'd be surprised." On every table was a little box of pencils and scraps of paper, the kind of thing you use to write down a book number at the library. Sora picked up one of the pencils and tossed from hand to hand before giving it to her. At the end of the few bookshelves that were there were numbers posted to show which books were in which shelf. Sora pointed out one of the numbers, a good distance away from them.

"I bet you that you could hit that with your eyes closed." He told her. She sighed.

"Please, I don't think I can even throw that far." She answered.

"Just try it, like I said, I think you'll be surprised. I can recall you bragging a while back about how you were the best shot on the Islands." He told her with a smile. She shrugged disbelievingly and looked at the posted number in question. 1500. She decided she would aim at the first zero. It was right in the middle, it would be her bulls-eye. Then she smirked. That is, if she even managed to hit the bookshelf. She held the pencil experimentally in her hand. She knew she wasn't going to make it, but she had to make some effort. She personally didn't care very much if she missed, but she didn't want to let Sora down. He was grinning at her.

"Relax a little, you look really nervous." He said, still grinning. Melody sighed and did as she was told. Sticking her tongue out a little, she took aim and threw it as hard as she could. As if it was an arrow the pencil whipped through the air, turning end over end. With a thud, the tip of the pencil drove itself into the wood – right in the middle of the 0 she'd been aiming for. She gaped.

"I can't believe I just did that…" She muttered. Sora was looking very smug.

"I told you so." He said airily. She frowned at him.

"You know, it's kind of awkward when another person knows more about you than you do." She said sharply, though barely hiding her smile.

"We'll find a way for you to remember." He promised. Then he shrugged. "But I don't know how you could have expected any less from yourself, after just hearing all of the things you've done." He paused, watching her intently. "Isn't there anything you remember at all?" He asked after a long while. She sighed, then, to his surprise, she nodded.

"Every time someone calls me Kairi, I'm reminded of something from when I was really little. All I remember is a little bit, but it's clear as a bell. There are shadow creatures everywhere, hideous things, eating up all the tall buildings, like the ones in Zanarkand, only these are so covered in the shadows that they don't glow. There's a woman, I think she's my mother, and she has my hand and we run down the streets, trying to find a place safe from the shadow things. There's a man who we meet, and he and my mom work together to find a way out. I think he's my dad. It's very dark outside, and the shadow creatures catch up to us and start to close in. Then, a cloaked person appears out of nowhere and says that there is still enough time to take us to safety. He says we have to trust him. My dad says we shouldn't and that he's probably one of the shadow things. My mother says that we don't have any other choice, so they agree to trust him. The cloaked person takes my hand, and then there is a ring of white fire rising out of the ground around us. Though, it's not a ring, exactly, because it has odd shaped corners, but I don't know what shape it is. All the shadow things seem to be afraid of the fire, and they all back away, screaming. Then there's a flash of bright light, and all I can remember is finding myself swimming upwards, looking for air. I can never quite remember what I saw when I reached the surface. And I can remember trying to hold on to thoughts of my mother, and crying when I couldn't remember what her face looked like." '

"Your home…" Sora murmured. "That's where you came from. A planet swallowed by the Heartless. When I first met you, you'd already forgotten it. I wonder what made you forget so fast?" He asked. Melody shrugged.

"I've stopped questioning. I'm never going to know the answers to those kind of questions when I can't even remember killing a goddess a couple months ago. That is, if I did manage to kill her."

"Sounds like sound advice." Someone said. Turning around, they say Baralai approaching them. "Now, what's this about you not remembering what happened with the Mana Goddess?" He asked. Melody sighed.

"I don't remember anything. When Sora started calling me Kairi, I thought he'd gone crazy." She replied. Baralai blinked at her.

"That's odd. Everyone else remembers." He said. Melody frowned.

"I know. I'm the only one who still can't remember. The only thing that I can remember is…seeing my home being eaten by the heartless." she said quietly.

"We'll take you home, Kairi, and we'll find a way to fix it." Sora told her resolutely. Baralai nodded.

"I think we owe it to you to do this." He agreed. There was a distant 'ping' sound, and then some voices. Everyone else was getting off the elevator to come find Melody, Sora and Baralai. Yuna and Tidus were the first ones to appear out of the rows of bookshelves, hand in hand. Melody smiled at Yuna.

"So, is he the one?" She asked. Yuna grinned, nodding. Melody sighed. "Well, that's a relief." Tidus looked confused.

"Uhhh, what are you talking about…?" He asked slowly. Yuna turned a little red and whispered that she'd tell him later. Finally, everyone ended up sitting in a circle, watching Emma expectantly. Paine cleared her throat.

"I'd like an explanation now." She ordered. Emma nodded.

"Okay, well, I've been having these dreams recently, but every time I woke up, I couldn't remember them." Then she paused, sighing. "Okay, scratch that. I'm going to start from the very beginning. This planet is the planet that I was born on. I've never told anyone this before, but I was born with the ability to dream myself into different times and places. I've dreamt myself into Medieval France, and all sorts of places. Anyways, a couple of months ago, I dreamt myself into a dark place, and I met someone there, named Riku."

"You met Riku!" Sora asked, surprised. Baralai nudged him.

"Don't interrupt." He ordered, but even as he spoke, Melody started talking.

"Is that the same Riku that you said I met?" She asked Sora quietly. Before he could reply, Emma answered.

"It is. He showed who you were in his crystal, and told me about what happened to you guys, at Destiny Islands. Anyways, We saw a door that wasn't there before, and I fell through it by accident. I ended up in this strange cave, where I found a Sproutling thingy. It gave me the Sword of Mana and then I ended up in Fa'Diel with you guys. You guys know what happened after that. Anyways, not to long ago, I started having my dreams again, and I kept dreaming myself into that place with Riku. We ended up figuring out that I wasn't supposed to be with you guys when you fought the goddess. You were all destined to die fighting, but something about me being there with that sword made something change. All our destinies are broken now, and we think it's because we're supposed fight the Fates. You guys know the prophesy: four worlds, ten hearts, one fate. Ten of us, from four different worlds, all to destroy the Fates. This is kind of scary sounding, but we're the only ones who can do this, because our destinies are broken, so the Fates don't have control over us anymore." At this, there were questions coming at her from every direction, and she tried her best to answer them, but most of the time she ended up simply saying that she didn't know. Finally, Paine stood up and ended the QandA session.

"Enough questions, they're not going to get us anywhere. We have to figure out how to get off this planet first." She said. There was a long silence. No one knew how they'd manage it. Rikku frowned.

"Looks like we might have a teensy-weensy problem here."


	7. The great invention

**To tiduskazurakitesora: Hey! Good guess at the meaning behind the Fates and the connection to Pandora. You're pretty close I'd say! I'd explain to everyone fully, but it'll only end up being explained soon enough anyways.**

………………………………….

Yuna yawned. Emma glanced at her watch, and almost gasped.

"Guys! It's 3 in the morning! Why don't we continue this conversation tomorrow?" She suggested. Sora yawned too.

"Sounds like a good idea. Meet you guys here tomorrow." He stood up.

"Why don't the guys stay at the house? It's not like we don't have enough room." Paine noted. Rikku eyed her suspiciously.

"Why? Do you plan on being a fool again with Baralai? Hmm?" She asked accusingly. Paine started blushing and Melody giggled. Everyone looked at her.

"You…remember?" Yuna asked slowly. Melody sighed, getting a bit tired of the question.

"I don't know why it's funny, but it just is." She answered. Gippal nudged Sora.

"You didn't tell her about our 'adventures' in Luca, did you?" He asked accusingly. Sora turned a bit red and shook his head.

"No, I uhh, kind of left that part out…" He said slowly. Rikku grinned, trying to look innocent.

"If Yunie's having a baby, what must she have done?" She asked Melody quietly. Melody knew what Rikku was implying, but didn't understand what it had to do with Paine being called a fool, or Luca. The Al Bhed girl continued. "Well, she did it in Luca…and so did all the rest of us." She sat down, landing in Gippal lap, and grinned at him. "By the way, does this remembering mean I get to steal your boxers again? They're comfy." She giggled. Gippal raised his eyebrows, smirking.

"Well, sure, but what do I get in exchange?" He asked. Rikku smiled mischievously at him.

"Mmmm, well, what would you like?" She asked, barely in a whisper. They were getting awfully close. Melody watched, trying to keep from laughing. Paine looked utterly disgusted.

"Get a room." She ordered. Gippal looked at her, smirking.

"Okay, can we use yours?" He asked. Paine smacked him. Rubbing his head, he looked at Rikku.

"Come on Cid's girl, aren't you going to defend me?" He asked pleadingly. Rikku shrugged.

"Sorry, you deserved that one." She answered simply. "Besides, if you want me to help you, you shouldn't call me Cid's girl." She told him. Tidus smirked.

"She's right. Gippal's girl sounds better anyways." He added. Rikku glared at him.

"Tidus!" She shrieked. "You're giving him ideas!"

"Hmmm…" Gippal grinned. "You're right Tidus, Gippal's girl does sound much better." He said, chuckling. Rikku groaned.

"Well, it's late, we should be heading to bed. See you guys tomorrow then!" She said, desperate to change the subject. Yuna smiled.

"We'll meet you guys at the front doors tomorrow?" She suggested. Then Sora spoke.

"Wait a sec, I have class tomorrow. What are we going to do about school?" He asked. Then a new thought dawned on Melody.

"If I spent my life on Destiny Islands, then how can it be that I just one day woke up here with a family, friends, and a life?" She asked. There was silence. Emma shrugged.

"I think we have more pressing matters than classes right now. And as to how we ended up with families and lives here is going to stay a mystery until we can find someone who knows more about what happened than we do."

……………………..

Nine students sat lounging around the front doors to the library, none of them saying anything. Then Tidus stood up.

"What are we waiting around here for? Someone on this planet has to know how we could contact the Celcius." He said resolutely. No one else moved.

"No one on this planet is going to know what the Celcius is. And even if they did, they'd still think we were crazy" Baralai answered. Yuna sighed.

"I guess that means we'll have to find our own way off the planet. But how? The space shuttles here can barely get to Mars, never mind Spira or Fa'Diel." She said. Rikku was lying down on the bench, and Gippal was leaning over the back of the bench. She sat up very suddenly, colliding with Gippal's chest. She yelped, and sat up the rest of the way, a little bit more carefully.

"How here knows what the broadcasting distance of a cell phone is?" She asked suddenly. There was a long silence. She crossed her arms. "Well, I guess it wouldn't be far enough anyways." She said, lying back down. It took a moment, but then Gippal seemed to catch on.

"Wait, why can we rig it to get it to broadcast farther?" He asked. Rikku bit her lip.

"I guess we could, but we'd need a huge antenna." She answered. Gippal smirked.

"Leave that to me. You get your hands on a cell." He told her, before turning on his heel and walking away. Rikku sat up.

"Okay, so does anyone have a cell phone?" She asked. Yuna pulled hers out of her pocket and tossed it to her cousin. Rikku stuck out her tongue, prying at it. Everyone watched her, confused. Finally, Melody spoke.

"Do you mind explaining what you and Gippal were talking about?" She asked. Rikku shrugged.

"Would take too long. Someone help me open this." She ordered. Sora took it from her and inspected it.

"I'm sure there's something in the tech building that could open this. A screwdriver of something." He stated. Rikku nodded.

"Good, I need the tools from there anyways." She stood up, and everyone followed her as they walked over to the building where most of Sora's classes had taken place. It took them a little while, but Rikku did end up getting her hands on a screw driver, and pried Yuna's phone open. The exsummoner watched apprehensively.

"Uhh, Rikku, just what are you going to do to my phone?" She asked. Rikku looked a little sheepish.

"I think I'll be able to fix it after I'm done, but if I'm not, I'll get you a new one, k?" She offered. Yuna smiled slightly, rolling her eyes. Emma watched, having no idea what Rikku was doing.

"So, since we really can't help you out with the phone, is there anything else that needs doing for this plan of yours?" She asked slowly. Rikku shook her head, and then grinned, holding up the jumble of chips and wires triumphantly.

"Ha! I'm done! Now all we have to do is find Gippal and his antenna!" With that, they all piled out of the building, and crossed the campus back towards the library. They found him lazing on the bench. He grinned when they approached him.

"I was wondering what was taking you so long." He said offhandedly. Rikku ignored the comment.

"So where's this great big antenna?" She asked. He stood up, motioning for them to follow. They rounded a corner, and Rikku's eyes fell on a huge radio tower. "It's perfect!" She announced.

"I know." He answered with a hint of arrogance. "It's the old campus radio tower, they abandoned it last year when they got access to the one north of here. I had to kick in the door, though." He said, showing them inside. Other than the broken door on the ground, the place was in pretty good shape. He pointed to what looked like a fuse box on the wall, with the door wide open to reveal a bunch of circuits that Gippal had hastily rebuilt. Rikku set to work on connecting the phone to the box. In a moment, she sighed and sat down.

"Now we wait." She said. Melody cleared her throat.

"Wait for what?" She asked. Rikku smiled slightly.

"We wait for the phone to ring." She answered. Paine raised her eyebrows.

"That's still actually a phone?" She asked. Rikku nodded, grinning. Then, she pulled the case out of her pocket and pressed all the pieces carefully back in before closing it.

"There." She said proudly. However, as she spoke, the phone popped back open. "Someone find tape." She ordered, pressing it back together. Tidus tossed her some duct tape, and she wrapped it tightly, so that all that was left uncovered was the microphone and the earpiece. She grinned sheepishly at Yuna.

"So, do you want a new phone?" She asked. Yuna laughed.

"I'm sure Shinra can make me something even better than a phone when we get back." She answered.

…………….a day later……………

"We've now officially been here for 36 hours." Melody announced, looking at her watch. They'd come and gone, but someone always had to be there, waiting for the phone to ring, so they'd generally remained tied to the antenna house. The sun had set about an hour ago, and the stars were just getting bright. She went outside and climbed the ladder. It led to the roof, and was built so that adjustments could be made to the antenna. Melody lay down on the cool roof, letting the sky consume her vision. She heard the clunking sound that the ladder made against the wall when someone was climbing it. Looking over, she saw Sora clambering on to the roof.

"Whatcha thinking about?" He asked, sitting down next to her. She shrugged.

"I guess I'm still trying to get used to not remembering who I am." She said slowly. Sora frowned.

"Well, can you think of anything that might help you remember?" He asked. She shook her head.

"I guess it's a good thing that I can remember flashes of things that happened, but none of it means anything to me." She admitted sadly, sitting up.

"Kai…I wish there was something I could do…." He said quietly. Without realizing what he was doing, he slipped his arm around her. He realized after a moment, and was about to move it, but she leaned against him, smiling a little sheepishly.

"I guess there's only really one reason that I believe everything I've been told about all our adventures. More than that stunt with the pencil in the library, more than so many people being a part of this sudden revelation, more than even trusting my friends to tell the truth about important stuff like this." She sighed, pausing, blushing a little. "I know I should only barely know you, but I think it's only my mind's memories that I can't remember." She laughed a little in spite of herself. "I guess this sounds kind of dumb, but even if I just met you, I feel like I've always been in love with you." She said, her voice getting quieter as she grew more and more unsure of what she was saying. He smiled kindly, looking almost relieved.

"I'm glad you remember that, at least." He answered, touching his lips to hers. She pulled herself closer to him, her arms going around his neck and burying her fingers in his crazy hair. His arms tightened around her waist. When they broke the kiss, both off them were breathing raggedly, both of them were smiling slightly, and both of them were blushing a little. Hearing a clunk, they turned around and saw Rikku scrambling to her feet.

"I uhh, I didn't see…." She said quickly, stuttering and scrambling down the ladder. She stopped, admitting to herself that her attempt to act innocent didn't work.

"Come up Rikku." a voice ordered. Rikku peeked over the edge of the roof, looking cautiously at both of them and cleared her throat.

"Umm, so, do you remember?" She asked sheepishly. Sora glanced at the girl still settled comfortably in his arms. She sighed.

"Not really…" She answered. Rikku frowned, climbing the rest of the way up onto the roof.

"But that's how me and Gippal remembered." She answered. Sora grinned.

"You guys only just met. Why was it so much easier for you guys to admit how much you liked each other this time around? I heard it took years back in Spira." He answered. Rikku frowned.

"Gippal asked me the same thing." She said slowly.

Meanwhile, Yuna and Tidus, who had been sent to collect some food, were walking down the street towards a little 24-hour grocery store. Inside, they were gathering all the stuff that was written on their list, but Yuna kept asking for weird things.

"Hey! Let's have strawberry iced cream!" She suggested happily as they walked past the freezers. Tidus stopped, raising an eyebrow.

"We don't have a fridge at the radio tower, never mind a freezer, it'll melt." He answered. Yuna crossed her arms, grinning.

"Then we'll just have to eat it really fast!" She answered. Tidus rolled his eyes. Yuna looked pleadingly at him. He sighed, a little exasperated.

"Are you sure you're okay? First you say you wanted pancake mix to make pancakes, then you said you wanted pickles and cherries, now this." He said, crossing his arms. Yuna, who was holding onto the basket, put it down, turning a little bit red. She smiled slightly.

"You know, you've caused me a great deal of stress this past week." She told him. Tidus blinked.

"But you didn't even remember me for the first half…" He said, utterly confused. Yuna shrugged, still half smiling.

"Exactly."

"…huh?"

"Well, about a week ago, I went to the clinic to find out why I was so late." She said, hinting. Tidus stared dumbly at her.

"Late for what?" He asked, confused. She was looking really nervous, unsure of whether he was really so clueless, or whether he didn't want to believe was she was going to tell him. She bit her lip.

"Before I remembered everything…I didn't think I'd ever…slept with anyone before, so when I found out…" Her voice trailed off, her throat felt like it was seizing up. Tidus' eyebrows furrowed.

"Did you get a disease or something? I'm sure there's something we can do to treat it, so don't be upset, I can't stand it when you're sad." He told her quickly. Yuna almost laughed. He really didn't have any idea. She took his hand and placed it over her stomach. He paused, as if to process what she was meaning. She bit her lip, smiling a little.

"I'm having a baby, Tidus. We're going to be parents." She whispered. He blinked again, drawing circles with his thumb over her stomach. Then, a grin spread across his face, and he kissed her gently.

"I guess I need to get daddy tips from Wakka when we get back then." He said. Yuna grinned slyly.

"Can I have my iced cream now?"

……………………………

Sorry that took so long guys! With driver's ed, school prep, moving the computer and my bro's crazy obsession with this machine, I've not gotten much of a chance to write. I hope this relatively juice piece makes up for it?


	8. The Big Meanwhile

Well, I was originally going to do this explanation differently, but seen as how this way will be easier and I've had a number of questions as to what is happening in Spira all this while, here it is! The Meanwhile!

…………………………

Inside the Celcius, Buddy, Brother and Shinra were waiting for The Gullwings to check in after their battle. It was getting late in the day, and Buddy headed to the cottage to ask Bud and Lisa when they thought the others would get back. He slipped inside and found the two of them just hanging out around the table. He smiled at them.

"Hey guys."

"Hi Buddy." Lisa greeted him, not looking up from the paper she was writing on. Bud grinned at him.

"Hey Buddy, wanna play cards?" He asked eagerly. Lisa rolled her eyes. Buddy shrugged.

"How long will everyone be at the tree?" He asked, instead over answering.

"They'll probably be back by dusk, or a little after, depending on how long they fight for." Lisa answered, still not looking up. Buddy nodded.

"Okay." He looked at Bud. "Want me to go get the other guys to play cards too? I'm sure they'd be happy to come play here instead of sticking around in the ship." He offered. Bud nodded vigorously. Within minutes, Buddy was back again, this time with Brother and Shinra trailing behind him. The four of them sat down at the table, avoiding Lisa and her work, and started to play cards. Shinra decided to teach them to play euchre. It took a lot of explaining for Bud and Brother to understand, Buddy picked up pretty quickly. Lisa kept glancing up at them, and then sighing. Bud looked at her.

"Wanna play Lis?" He asked. Lisa sighed again.

"I really shouldn't…" She began. Bud raised an eyebrow at her, and she grinned. "But what I should do and what I will do are two totally different things." She finished, pushing her work off the table and onto the extra chair out of her way. She scooped up her hand and grinned. They played hand after hand after hand. Shinra beat them again and again and again. Lisa crossed her arms.

"Can we play something else?" She asked, sounding frustrated. Everyone but Shinra nodded in agreement. The child genius sighed.

"Alright, how about sphere break."

"What?" Bud and Lisa asked at the same time. Shinra smiled, pulling out the game. They spent the next little while teaching Bud and Lisa to play. They practiced, and it turned out they mostly spent their time playing on a team. Bud had the speed and Lisa the logic, so by the time the moon had risen, Bud and Lisa were getting good enough for them to nearly beat even Shinra when they worked together. Suddenly, Buddy jumped to his feet.

"It's almost midnight!" He said. The others blinked in surprise. Then Lisa realized what he was talking about. She froze. Struggling to find an explanation, she smiled nervously.

"Don't worry, it's probably just taking them longer than we expected." She said slowly. Then, Brother caught on.

"Is Yuna okay?" He asked hurriedly. Everyone ignored him. Shinra sighed.

"We haven't lost a connection with their comm's yet, so they can't be in that much trouble. I'm sure they'll be fine. It's like Lisa said, it's just taking them longer than we had previously anticipated." He didn't seem worried. Buddy tried to shrug it off, even if he still had a bad feeling.

His hat fluttering behind him in the wind, his green poncho flying out behind him, he ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Breathless, Niccolo stumbled up to the door of Bud and Lisa's cottage. He took a moment to catch his breath, and knocked. The door opened, and the fat rabbit stumbled inside.

"They…they….they're gone!" He breathed. Buddy and Brother stood up and helped him into a chair.

"Take a breath." Lisa ordered. Niccolo sighed, breathing deeply. Buddy crossed his arms.

"Who's gone?" He asked sharply. He somehow could guess.

"All of them!" He said, wheezing. Brother blinked at him.

"Who is all of them?" He asked dumbly. Shinra elbowed him.

"Your sister for one." He answered. Brother blinked.

"Rikku? Rikku is gone? Where is she!" He shouted. Buddy glared at him.

"Calm down Brother! They're all gone, gone where?" He asked. Niccolo sighed, aggravated.

"Come with me! Pokiehl will explain!" He told them hurriedly, pulling himself to his feet and walking towards the door. Buddy groaned.

"We don't have time, we have to find them now, if something's happened." He answered. Shinra nodded.

"He's right. A human can only be revived within four minutes after death, and there's only a very slim chance of that." He told them. Niccolo waved his hands desperately.

"Then we'll never get to them in time!" He shouted. Then, everyone froze. The fire in the fireplace started glowing unnaturally bright, and started becoming a bluish-colour. Then, there was a flash that blinded all of them. As they regained their sight, they saw a transparent image of a woman standing before them. She held a sword, that was much more real than the rest of her. She smiled sadly and walked up to Buddy, who was standing closest.

"Take this." She said, handing the sword to him with a bow of her head. Buddy bowed low, even if she wasn't sure why, though it seemed natural. He took the sword and watched her, not sure he wanted to hear what she was about to say. "I come to deliver you some distressing news. You're friends fought valiantly, for my sake and the sake of this entire world. They did fall, but will be remembered and honoured. I wish you to know that they were excellent fighters and had the purest of hearts. You should be proud to have been their friends." She stated. Then, offering them another smile, she took a step back, there was another blinding flash, and she was gone.

"…who was that?" Bud asked slowly. Lisa bit her lip.

"…I think…that was the Mana Goddess…"

………………….

Not long after that, the two Al Bhed men and one Al Bhed boy genius were back on their ship, gliding back towards Spira to deliver the bad news to their home world. Shinra hit a couple of buttons, and started talking.

"Listen, we have some bad news, our girls didn't survive the fight. I think a memorial is in order. Before we get back, we'll be stopping off in the Kingdom to deliver the news to Sora and Kairi's friends, and we'll need to find out where Emma's from to tell her friends as well." He pushed a few more buttons and sat back with a sigh. Brother and Buddy were staring at him. "What?" He asked. Buddy blinked.

"What was that?" He asked.

"I sent a radio message to Cid on Spira. He'll arrange for everything by the time we get back, after going to the Kingdom." He answered. "Oh, and I think we need to get Leblanc and Nooj, too."

………………………………………

Selphie sat on the beach of the Destiny Islands. She seemed contented, working happily on whatever was in front of her. Only the sharpest of eyes would see the tears streaming down her cheeks. There was a bowl sitting in front of her. Inside, there were thin slices of dried paopu fruit. She picked a handful out of it and crumbled it in her hands and stood up.

"We'll never forget you. Sora, Kairi, Riku. We miss you every day, and if you're out there somewhere, if there is a heaven, please know that if you ever find yourselves back on these beaches, you'll always be welcome." With that, she tossed the dried paopu dust into the air, along with the leaves from the stem of the fruit. She watched as a gust of wind lifted her offering high into the air, and kept her eyes on it until it passed in front of the sun and she couldn't see it any more.

……………Months Later……………

The Celcius glided in silence over the turquoise water between Luca and Kilika Island. Shinra sighed. He'd been avoiding the question, but, as always, his curiosity got the best of him. He had an idea what the answer would be, and it hurt, but he still had to ask.

"So, why are we going to Besaid?" He asked quietly. Brother groaned, covering his face with his hands. Buddy shook his head.

"It's Yuna's birthday today. She was supposed to have turned 20, and Wakka and Lulu were going to name her and Tidus godmother and father to Vidinia. They're going to put on a memorial for her and everyone. There was only more silence as they approached Besaid. They landed, and the whole island seemed to be in silence in honour of the dead. Solemnly, the three Al Bheds walked off the ship. Shinra was the last one out. As he left, he heard a beeping. Normally, he would have ignored it, the memorial was much more important, but the beeping signaled that they were receiving a distress signal. He paused, considering it, and turned around to slip back into the ship, for just a moment.

Buddy and Brother walked into the village, where Wakka, Lulu, the young Vidinia, and everyone else from the village were gathered around a huge bonfire. Wakka and Lulu were telling stories of the pilgrimage, how brave Yuna, Tidus and Rikku were. Nooj and Leblanc were sitting off to the side. Nooj had his hands covering his face, and Leblanc was trying to console him. Nooj was often upset at these memorials, he often blamed himself for their death, saying that things might have been different if he was there to help them fight the goddess. Buddy walked over to him.

"Hey, Nooj, don't be so hard on yourself. The best you can do for anyone is keep the memories alive. I'm sure we'd all like to hear stories of the other worlds you traveled to." He said quietly. He refused at first, but with a little bit more coaxing he agreed. So, he and Leblanc took over the story telling. A few minutes later, Lulu leaned over to Buddy.

"Where's Shinra?" She whispered. Buddy blinked.

"I don't know, I had assumed he was following us…" He strained to look down the path to see if the young genius was on his way. He saw nothing.

Shinra sat down in his chair, and hit a few buttons. A window popped up on the screen. _Message will be decoded in 4 minutes, 24 seconds._ The numbers counted down. Shinra groaned. He didn't want a full analysis, he just wanted to know who was sending it and where it was from. He hit a few more buttons, and the little window disappeared, to be replaced with a screen full of 1s and 0s. He scanned over it, searching for the signature. Once he found it, he stared a moment, confused. He had to be wrong. But no, Shinra knew everything, he couldn't be wrong. Maybe his goggles were fogged up. He pulled them off, cleaned them, and put them back on again. Still, it made no sense. He hit a few more buttons, just to make sure, and the binary was replaced with a jumble of letters and numbers. He scanned over the screen again, until he found the signature again. No, there was something very weird going on. The signature stated that the signal was coming in at a .4 strength, so low that it couldn't possibly be coming from anywhere on Spira with even the worst conditions. Besides, the location of the source was supposed to be almost exactly straight up. Even more strange however, was that the Celcius signature was encoded into it. He couldn't imagine who but him would know that code. Rikku maybe, but… Then he froze. It couldn't possibly be coming from Rikku, could it? He scanned over the rest of the code. The signal was fine tuned to the frequency that the Celcius comm. system worked on, it was clear that the sender of the distress signal knew the workings of the Celcius and had intended for the message to get to this ship and get the attention of the remaining Gullwings as quickly as possible. He hit a handful more buttons, and a little window popped up in the screen. _Connecting…_ He waited impatiently. He could hear a strange buzzing sound, and then a click.

"he--o?" A voice came through the speakers, layered with static and barely understandable.

"This is Shinra of the Al Bhed air ship Celcius, currently landed on Besaid Island. Your distress signal has been received." He spoke slowly, knowing that his voice would sound very fuzzy on the other side.

"Shi-ra?" Another voice was speaking now, a female one.

"Yes, this is Shinra." He answered. He was tempted to speak Al Bhed, since the language was designed to carry better over airwaves, but he knew that few people could speak it, much less people on another planet. Or, that what he thought until he heard the stream of it coming over the speakers.

Running as fast as his still rather short legs could carry him, Shinra came racing into the village. Gasping for breath, he slowed to a walk as he approached the bonfire. Everyone had stopped talking to stare at him. Buddy was glaring.

"What took you so long?" He asked sharply.

"We've received a most unusual distress signal." He answered. Buddy looked like he was going to yell at the younger boy, but Wakka spoke first.

"From who, man?" He asked. Shinra faltered.

"From…uhh…Rikku. And Gippal and Tidus." He answered. No one said anything and the silence was unnerving so he continued. "Well, those are the only people I talked to, but the rest of them are probably there too." He answered. (AN: stuff written like "_this_" means it's in Al Bhed)

"_Don't fool about this kind of stuff Shinra! It's not funny!_" Brother scoffed angrily. Shinra looked offended.

"I'm not fooling!" He shouted. There was silence again. Everyone knew Shinra didn't shout. Maybe he wasn't kidding. Buddy sighed.

"Alright, show us." He said reluctantly. Shinra took a deep breath, and started off at a run again, back towards the ship, this time with Buddy and Brother following. In the village, Shinra's arrival had signaled the end of the memorial, and no one was really sure of what to do, until Lulu started shooing them back into their huts, telling them that life must go on.

………………

There ya go! Now, as a warning, the beginning of the next chappie will overlap some with this one, so, just be prepared I guess. RnR!


	9. Being Found

((Note for this chapter and all following chapters: anything in quotations and italics are in Al Bhed. I'm really sick of translating phrases into Al Bhed when all you people are going to do is re-translate it back. "_It'll look like this_" --example))

Yuna and Tidus, both carrying armfuls of groceries, walked back into the radio tower. Rikku, who was supposed to be looking after the phone, had dozed off. Yuna put down her bags and poked her cousin, but to no avail. She grinned.

"Poor Rikku, she's exhausted." She whispered. So was everyone else apparently. Paine was asleep on the couch, with Gippal and Baralai each on a chair on either side of her. Sora and Melody was fast asleep together, still on the roof. Rikku was asleep with her head in her arms, resting on the table. Emma was curled up on a pile of pillows collected from all the dorms. Tidus yawned as he put the bags in a corner, out of the way. A funny beeping noise caught both of their attention. They looked at each other, and then at the phone. Tidus grabbed it and opened it.

"Hello?" He asked, carefully. Yuna elbowed Rikku more forcefully, knocking the younger girl awake. Blinking, she watched Tidus carefully which Yuna went and quietly woke everyone else. Within moments, everyone was gathered around Tidus and the phone.

"--is is Sh-n-a -- th -- A- Bh-d --r sh-- Cel--us -urr---ly l-nd-- on Be--id Isl--d. Y--r di-tr--s sig--- ha- -een reci--ed" Came the fuzzy reply. Rikku snatched away the phone.

"Shinra!" She asked hurriedly.

"Y--, th-s is Sh-nr-." There was a long silence as they all looked at each other, their relief, excitement and shock apparent. Then, Rikku started speaking into the phone, overly quickly with excitement.

"_Shinra! I'm so glad we managed to reach you guys! We're on some planet somewhere without any way off. I don't know how we got here, and only just a few days ago we all thought we were different people! I thought I was dead when we had that fight, but then I just woke up here with Kairi! And then we went and met up with Emma and Yunie and Paine, but we all thought that we were Tegan and Lil and Naomi and Melody and Rochelle. But Kairi doesn't remember yet. We have to find some way for her to remember. Oh and we found the guys too. So we---." _She would have kept talking, but Shinra interrupted her.

"_The Mana Goddess told us you were dead._"

"_She did?_" Rikku asked, surprised. It had been her theory that the Mana Goddess had managed to save them, even if saving them meant she had to send them away and erase their memories. Then another thought struck her. _"So we really did heal her?"_ She asked excitedly. Then Gippal grabbed the phone.

"_Hey Shinra, I think that's enough chit-chat. We'll figure out what's happening later, just come get us."_ He said. There was a long pause.

"_But I don't know where you are._" Shinra answered.

"_I can fix that."_ Gippal said, passing the phone back to Rikku. He pulled open the box, and tugged on a few wires. He zapped himself and yelped.

"Careful." Rikku said seriously. Everyone looked at her; she never showed concern for Gippal, whether everyone else knew she really did worry about him or not. With a blank expression, she sighed. "I mean don't mess up the connection, dummy." Gippal smirked.

"Thanks for caring, sweetheart." He muttered. Rikku went bright red. He adjusted another few things and a muffled "AH-HA!" came loudly through the speakers so that everyone could hear it and Rikku pulled the phone away from her ear, grimacing.

"_Not so loud next time, right?"_ She suggested.

"_Of course. Tell Gippal I say thanks for the location signal. I have to go tell Buddy and Brother about this. Stay by the phone, I may have to call back. I get the feeling that they won't quite believe me when I tell them what's up._" Shinra answered. Then, there was a click and Shinra was gone. Rikku sighed.

"Well, Shinra's got our location, and he's off to tell Brother and Buddy about us, but he says he might have to call back, so we need to stick around for a little longer." Yuna had collapsed on the bed of pillows Emma had been using, and was fast asleep. Tidus sat down beside her and fell asleep in his chair. Rikku was wide awake, and so were Emma, Melody, Sora and Gippal. Paine and Baralai had barely woken up in the first place, and so were both back asleep immediately. So, for most of the rest of the night, those who were awake sat around and amused themselves talking, snacking, playing cards and truth or dare. By the time dawn came, however, they'd all fallen asleep haphazardly on top of each other on the floor. A loud knock jolted Emma awake. Her head still foggy from her dream, she stood up and opened the door. Rubbing her eyes, she looked down at the person standing there and yawned.

"Who are you?" She asked tiredly. Then all at once, she her senses came to her. "How did you get here so fast!" Before he could answer, she turned around and shouted back into the room. "GUYS! GET UP! GET UP!"

……………………………

Shrouded in darkness, Emma sat up. She knew exactly where she was. Her vision cleared, and she could see a glow in the distance that she recognized as the crystal. Standing up, she brushed herself off and walked towards it. She was surprised to find that Riku wasn't there. She sat down, leaning back against it, and closed her eyes to wait. It didn't seem like long had passed when she heard the padding sound of bare feet on the hard ground. Smiling, she looked towards the sound and saw Riku grinning back at her.

"Hey." He greeted her simply. Instead of greeting him back, she asked him a question that she had been wondering about for the while she was waiting.

"How did you get here?" She asked. Riku blinked, surprised by the question.

"Well, since I had been possessed by Ansem, when Sora cast him into Kingdom Hearts and destroyed him, I was locked in Kingdom Hearts with King Mickey. Eventually we found our way here. I guess this place is like the nothing between worlds. Mickey and I found the door to Disney Castle, and he went back home. I tried to go with him, but some force was holding me back. It's the same with every door, and so now I'm caught in here. The Fates made it this way to keep the ten that would destroy them from uniting." He explained. Emma lay back on the ground.

"But I thought I wasn't supposed to end up on Fa'Diel, and if I hadn't, then we wouldn't have been united anyways, so why would they have locked you in here?" She asked. Riku shrugged.

"Maybe it was just in case. Anyways, if I wasn't here, what would have happened to you?" He asked. Emma looked around.

"Speaking of which, the door's gone." She noted. Riku nodded.

"Not surprising, it only led to a dream, and now that dream's over." He answered. He looked around, looking suddenly upset. "You think I'll ever get out of here?" He asked. Emma smiled.

"Of course." she answered instantly.

"You sound pretty sure of that." He said, still sounding a bit depressed. Emma nodded.

"I am. You got in here easily enough, we'll just have to find out again, right? It's like, what goes up must come down, so what comes in must come out." She said, shrugging. Riku laughed.

"I like your logic." He told her with a grin. She grinned back at him.

"I'm just optimistic is all." she answered. Then, she tilted her head as if listening. "I think someone's knocking at the door." She said. She was about to stand up, but then she smiled sweetly at Riku. "Would you like a kiss goodbye?" She asked. Without waiting for a reply, she leaned towards him and kissed him gently. He took one of her hands in his and his other arm went around her waist, pulling her closer. She started to feel herself become less and less tangible. Apparently Riku could feel it too, because she felt his hand tighten in hers, until he passed completely through it. He broke the kiss and watched as her form faded even more. She was smiling playfully.

"Just when it was getting good too." She said, pouting a little. He couldn't help but grin at that. In a few moments, she was gone. He stayed sitting for a few minutes, staring off into space before he got to his feet and kicked at the ground.

"I must be going soft." He muttered to himself, sighing. "I miss her already."

………………

Emma woke up and yawned. Further knocking at the door forced her out of bed. Her heart was beating out of her chest and she yawned again, fully aware that her senses were more than a little compromised at the moment. She pulled open the door, yawned once more and rubbed her eyes.

"Who are you?" She asked, feeling a little but grumpy at the idea of having waked to answer the door for some bratty kid. Then the thought struck her. It was Shinra. "How did you get here so fast!" Before he could answer, she turned around and shouted back into the room. "GUYS! GET UP! GET UP!" Paine was the first one to stumble to the door, looking wildly around. Then, spotting Shinra, she groaned.

"It's just…Shinra!" She blinked, the surprise jolting her awake. A few surprised voices could be heard from inside.

"Shinra?"

"He's here!" The door was flung open and Rikku came running out, hugging the boy so tightly she lifted him off the ground. He made a choking sound and Rikku dropped him, giggling excitedly.

"You know, Spira's approaching a state of chaos. The only bit of peace left is on Besaid, and Bikanel." Buddy said, walking up to them. Rikku yelped happily and crushed him in a hug as well. Slowly, one by one, everyone else stumbled out outside. Seeing the Al Bhed's, Melody leaned over to Sora.

"Who are these people?" She whispered. Buddy watched her curiously, while Sora pointed out each of them quietly.

"Kairi, don't you remember us?" Buddy asked. Blushing, she shook her head. Sora explained.

"We're not really sure what happened, we all just woke up on this planet and we all thought we were someone else. Anyways, I know Emma was the one who found us in the music room, and she reminded me of who I was. Only thing is, Kairi still can't remember who she is, she thinks she's still Melody."

"Can't you just do the same thing to her that Emma did to you to get you to remember?" Shinra asked, entering the conversation. Sora shook his head.

"All Emma did was call me Sora and everything just kind of came back." He answered.

"Me too." Yuna agreed.

"And me." Paine added. "But we've already tried that. We've tried everything."

"Yeh! Sora even kissed her!" Rikku announced, making both Melody and Sora turn a bit red.

"Maybe seeing the Destiny Islands will help her!" Sora suggested. It seemed like a good idea to everyone else, so they headed over to the ship where it was waiting for them like a huge silhouette.

……………………….

Melody was sitting on her bed in the cabin, looking out the window in amazement as the stars whipped by. Sure, she'd been told about the airship going from planet to planet, but actually being there was a different thing completely. She ran her hand through her hair, and then made a face. She could feel a few strands of hair flipped over, and she tried to fix them by touch but with no success. Glancing around, she saw a hand mirror sitting on the table next to Yuna's bed. She grabbed it and looked in it to fix her hair and gasped.

"What happened to me?" She asked, touching the corners of her eyes. She rubbed her eyes and took another look. She blinked a few more times. Her irises were blood red, and she was very pale. As she looked closer she started to see more odd things. There was a pair of antenna, thin black ones that twitched. She clapped her hand over her mouth, and then touched one of the antenna. Her hand passed through it. Confused, she tried again. It happened again. Her hands had grown longer, and there were thick, sharp claws on the ends of her fingers. Horrified, she looked down. Her hands were still normal, but in the reflection, she was continuing to transform. Within moments, she was staring at what looked like an oversized black bug with big eyes. Then the thought hit her. Her reflection was a heartless. But why? Did this happen to Sora too? She bit her lip and put the mirror down. After a moment, she slowly peeked into it again. This time it wasn't showing her a Heartless. It was a girl, about her age, who actually looked a lot like she did, thought her hair was a bit shorter and blonde and her eyes were a lighter colour of grey. Melody tilted her head to the side in confusion. So did the reflection, but oddly enough, she tilted her head the other way. Both she and the reflection blinked in surprise and straightened up. Melody bit her lip in confusion while her blonde reflection furrowed her eyebrows in thought.

"I wonder what's going on?" She asked herself out loud, as her reflection spoke as well, though she said something different, and oddly enough, Melody could hear it as if it was herself speaking.

"I should talk to Lakhesis about this." Both of them watched the mirror for a second more, clearly suspicious. Then, both girls put their mirrors down. Melody shook her head and stood up. Back inside the bridge, everyone was trying to figure out what happened.

"I don't get how we got there. I mean, not dying because Emma was there, that's something I can accept, but how we ever got to that planet doesn't make any sense." Paine was saying as she walked in. Tidus crossed his arms.

"I'm not even worried about how we got there, it's how we just woke up and had lives." He said. Sora sighed.

"I'm just going to stop worrying about it. I think some things are never going to be explained." He said simply. Everyone stared at him. "Well, everyone thought that the connection between the worlds would close after we closed the door. They didn't. I don't know, I don't really care too much anymore." He decided. Emma nodded.

"I mean, Riku said he was in the place between worlds. That in itself kind of denotes that there's still a connection between the worlds." Then there was a long silence in which everyone stared at Emma. She blushed, backing away. "…what?"

"You never did finish telling us what happened in your dreams that made you remember." Gippal noted. Emma blushed harder.

"That's my business." She answered quietly. Melody eyed her suspiciously.

"I think I can guess." She stated. Emma looked up quickly, her eyes going wide, and her face going even redder. Melody grinned. "Ha, can you say blackmail?" She asked. Emma leapt to her feet.

"Don't you dare!" She shouted, running at Melody. Shrieking with laughter, the two girls toppled down the stairs, landing on the floor at Buddy's feet as he stood next to his seat. Melody struggled to sit up underneath Emma, who rolled off her.

"Hehehe, this is gonna be fun." Melody announced. Buddy shook his head.

"Well, enjoy it now. Spira's in a state of chaos, and we're gonna be the ones who have to fix it." He stated. Everyone stared at him, and then looked at Gippal and Baralai. Both guys backed away, their eyes going wide.

"What?" Gippal asked worriedly.

"What did we do?" Baralai asked. Paine crossed her arms.

"Last time I checked, you two were the leaders of most of Spira, along with Nooj. And as far as I can tell, both of you just up and left without a word." She noted. Baralai gasped.

"We were only supposed to be only on a week's vacation. We've been gone for months…" He muttered. "This has got to be bad." Buddy nodded.

"The relations between the Youth League and New Yevon have collapsed." He told them. There was a long silence.

"Oh no…."


	10. Guadosalam

The group landed just outside of Luca. Stepping off the airship, Gippal looked around. No one was there, so he waved everyone else off after him. They knew they would have to be careful walking around, since they were all assumed to be dead and didn't want rumors spreading before they could explain themselves. Rikku stood just at the top of the steps into Luca, hands on her hips.

"The Highroad's really quiet." She noted. "Not even the hover pilots are here. I wonder what's going on?" She asked no one in particular. Turning around, she crept up to the top of the stairs, careful to keep from being seen by anyone below. Looking down, she saw only a young Ronso female sitting on the bench. There was no one else there. "Something's definitely up." She decided. Yuna looked down the stairs for a moment, and then grinned.

"I think it's time we got out the Gullwing's prized costumes once again." She told them. Everyone looked confused, but after a moment, both Rikku and Paine caught on.

"Good idea Yunie!" Rikku said excitedly. Paine sighed.

"Those things aren't very comfortable." She complained. Rikku gave her a look, she shrugged, and the three girls changed into their Mascot dresspheres. Seeing them dressed like that, Melody burst into giggles. Grinning, Baralai walked up to Paine.

"That's hot." He told her. Paine narrowed her eyes and waved her Tonberry knife menacingly at him.

"You guys stay here, we'll go check out what's going on." Yuna ordered.

"Wait!" Melody called, trotting up to them. "Can't me and Sora come too? No one here would know who we are, would they?" She asked pleadingly.

"I don't see why not." Paine answered. Rikku giggled and started at a run down the stairs, catching her foot on a step and tumbling the rest of the way down. The Ronso at the bottom of the stairs stared at her as she scrambled to her feet. Yuna skipped up to the bench, giggling.

"Have a happy day!" She greeted the Ronso, who looked like she thought the whole group of them were crazy. Melody smiled apologetically at her and the five of them were off. At the bottom of the next set of stairs was Luca's main square, which was just as oddly empty.

"Maybe there's a blitzball game on." Rikku suggested, though they all knew that even if there was, there'd still be people around. The only person there was an old man loitering around the benches.

"There's no game on." Shinra's voice told them over the comm.. Yuna sighed.

"There's something weird going on here, that's for sure." She noted. Paine crossed her arms.

"We might as well go check the stadium anyways." She decided, walking across the square.

They reached the stadium with very little happening, and still meeting no one on their way. There had been two men who looked like they were Kilika natives sitting on the docks, but that was it. The stadium seemed even more deserted. There wasn't a soul in sight, no shopkeepers, no one manning the ticket booths, no fans hanging around the front gates, no security guards, no one. Rikku frowned.

"This is kind of creepy guys." She told them. Sora sighed.

"What about that shopping district we stayed in? There has to be people there, at least people working. We could ask them what's happening." He suggested. The others thought this was a good idea. There was a moment of silence and stillness as the girls watched Sora expectantly. He grinned sheepishly.

"Well, uh, you guys lead the way. I, uh, don't know how to get there." He said. Paine snickered and started walking, the others following her.

Turning a corner, Melody found herself in a very recognizable place. She paused in surprise. Sora looked back at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked. She shook her head to clear it, then nodded.

"I think so. It's like déjà vu of something…" It certainly felt like déjà vu, but usually the sensation lasted for only a split second. This time, though, the feeling wasn't going away. As they walked down the street, images kept flashing before her eyes. The same stores, but they were open, and there were people everywhere. In all of the memories, she was laughing with Rikku and Yuna and Paine, and another blonde woman dressed in pink. She shook her head again and kept walking. Sora was watching her with concern.

"Are you sure you're alright?" He asked, walking next to her. She sighed.

"I went shopping here, with Yuna, Rikku and Paine, and another woman." She paused, squeezing her eyes shut as she tried to remember it. "A hotel…" She murmured. Her eyes flew open and she looked down one of the side streets. "That's the one, isn't it?" She asked, pointing. Sora blinked in surprise.

"You remember?" He asked urgently. She sighed again.

"A little. I keep seeing images in my mind, but they still don't mean anything." She answered. Then a sudden thought occurred to her. _That girl in the mirror…_"Sora, do I have any connection to the Heartless?" She asked. Sora nodded sadly.

"You, well, you are part Heartless. Usually it's under control, but if something panics you, it starts to show." He told her. She bit her lip.

"What about a blonde girl?" She asked, cringing at how stupid the question sounded. Sora blinked at her.

"A…blonde girl? I mean, there's Rikku…and we were traveling around with LeBlanc before Nooj was injured, but there's no special connection or anything." He explained slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"I looked into a mirror, and my reflection turned into a Heartless, and then a blonde girl. I don't think I've ever met any girl like her before, but she still seems really familiar." She told him. Sora shrugged.

"I guess it's one of those things that doesn't have an explanation." He said. A shout from the girls ahead caught their attention. Five men dressed in New Yevon uniforms were attacking.

"Hey!" Sora and Melody shouted at the same time, running towards them. Two of the men left the group attacking the Gullwing girls and ran at them. The first one to reach them swung the butt of his gun at them. In an instant, Sora had his Keyblade in his hand, and blocked the attack. Melody's body worked without her even realizing what was happening. She ducked and jumped, flying towards her assailant and kicking him. He fell backwards and she tumbled over him, somersaulting to her feet. She stepped back, surprised at herself. The three men that had been left with Yuna, Rikku and Paine were all down. The last man standing dropped his weapon in surrender. Paine crossed her arms, though she looked anything but intimidating in her Tonberry suit. Rikku pulled off the head of her Cait Sith suit and glared at him.

"_What_ was that about?" She asked angrily. The man stared at her.

"I, but…" He muttered, looking curiously at the women still hidden beneath the Tonberry and Moogle costumes. He rubbed his eyes, looking back at Rikku. "Bnehlacc Rikku?" He asked. Rikku nodded.

"That's me!" She announced. The man blinked at her.

"But, you were dead…" He said slowly.

"Yeh, we thought so too for a while there." Paine answered, pulling her Tonberry head off. The man gave her a sidelong look. Yuna sighed and pulled her Moogle head off.

"I'm here too." She said. The man stared at her.

"I have to tell them! The fighting's already started!" He cried, breaking off at a run. Melody stepped to the side and tripped him. He fell forward and Sora grabbed him.

"Hang on, what fighting? What are you talking about?" He demanded.

"Is Master Baralai here too?" The soldier asked.

"And Gippal and Tidus." Rikku answered. "Now explain." She ordered. The man jumped to his feet.

"When Nooj returned to Spira without the rest of you, a few in New Yevon became furious, claiming that he'd killed our Master and Lady Yuna to sabotage New Yevon efforts. We all thought they were crazy, but a few in the Machine Faction began to say that he'd killed Gippal and Rikku to ensure that the Youth League was the ultimate power in Spira. After that, it didn't take long for most people to join the rally against the Youth League. It's all about to boil over!"

"That's crazy talk! Nooj would never have hurt us!" Rikku shouted. Yuna frowned.

"Poor Nooj, I can only imagine the effect it's having on him." The man beckoned for them to follow him, and they started at a run down the streets of Luca back towards the Celcius.

"The Youth League members defended Nooj to the end." He told them as they ran. "Most of the Machine Faction has stayed out of it, but the New Yevon and their Al Bhed allies are launching a full assault on Guadosalam!"

"What!" Yuna, Paine and Rikku cried at the same time. Racing up the steps, the others looked surprised to see them in such a state.

"Get on the ship now!" Paine ordered. They all scrambled inside, and the Celcius was instantly off to Guadosalam.

The airship pulled to a bumpy stop, and the group raced off the ship and burst into Guadosalam. There was chaos everywhere. A mass of Youth League warriors were guarding the door to the mansion were Nooj apparently was, while a mass of New Yevon warriors launched assault after assault on them.

"Hey!"

"Stop!" Their shouts were useless. Getting an idea, Rikku pushed her way through the people, up the ramps to the very top of Guadosalam, with everyone else close on her heels. Skidding to a stop, she pointed at her cousin.

"Yuna, waterga!" She shouted over the din. Yuna nodded, changing into Black Mage. In a moment, she cast waterga over the crowd, and a wall of water splashed down over everyone. There was an instant of silent surprise, which Paine took full advantage of.

"HEY! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU ALL THINK YOU'RE DOING!" She yelled over them, clearly angry. There was further silence, and she continued. "No one is dead, and even if we were, you can't fight each other over it!"

"Paine's right, we're not dead, but you can't use every little thing as an excuse to rekindle the old anger against each other." Baralai said. As he spoke, all the Youth League members began to shout again, more or less shouting 'I told you so's.

"SHUT UP OR I'LL DUMP MORE WATER ON YOU!" Yuna shouted. The group went completely silent once again.

"Hey, I'm disappointed in you guys! I know every single one of us can remember a time when we were outcasted and blamed for the bad that happened to the world, and now you're doing it to others?" Gippal spoke, glaring at the small band of Machine Faction members in the crowds.

"Now, stop the stupid fighting, we need to get inside to see Nooj!" Rikku said. With that, the group walked proudly back down the ramps and towards the house, the crowds parting for them as they walked, still silent in shock. When the doors were slammed shut, Elma turned to the older man she'd been fighting a moment ago.

"Did that really just happen?"

……………………

Hey guys! I'm sorry the updates are taking so long. Discrete Math is like hell on paper, which isn't helped by the fact that I have a crazy teacher. Anyways, I'll try! RnR


	11. Finding Nooj

Bursting through the door of the mansion, Paine stepped inside.

"NOOOOOJ!" She shouted. Everyone else piled inside and waited for the reply. There wasn't one. Rikku rolled her eyes.

"I have a very bad feeling." She said with a sigh. Yuna blinked at her.

"Why?"

"How much do you wanna bet we'll have to deal with those traps again to find them?" She asked. Yuna groaned.

"You're probably right." She answered. Paine lifted her sword, spinning it idly.

"Well, we might as well get going." She suggested. Melody, during the conversation, had wandered away. It was Tidus who realized she'd gone.

"Hey, where's Kairi?" He asked suddenly. Everyone looked around quickly.

"I'm right here." She answered, stepping out of the shadows. They stared at her. She pointed behind her. "I heard voices in there." She told them simply. Gippal walked over and pressed his ear to the door. Then, with a grin, he kicked it open.

"Hey Nooj, been having some problems I hear?" He asked with a smirk. Nooj and Leblanc were sitting at the table in the dining room. There were papers strewn all over the table. Nooj's head had been in his hands, but now he was staring openly at Gippal and Melody as they stood in the doorway. Rikku skipped into the room, pushing Gippal in the process.

"Hiya Nooj! We have some good news! WE'RE NOT DEAD!" She announced. Nooj jumped to his feet.

"Who are you? What trickery is this?" He asked angrily. Rikku burst out laughing.

"Heeheehee! I like tricking people! But this ain't no trick!" She announced trotting up to Nooj. Yuna walked inside.

"Hi guys!" Yuna greeted them, giggling. Gippal walked in and grabbed Rikku around the waist. She yelped in surprise and pushed herself out of his grasp. Spinning around, she glared at him. Tidus peeked inside and smiled.

"Uh, hi? Umm, I guess we've got some explaining to do, right?" Leblanc crossed her arms and nodded.

"I should say so, loves." She answered, still watching them skeptically. Both she and Nooj were having a hard time believing they were actually there. Tidus turned around and called back out into the hall.

"Hey EMMA!" He shouted. Emma came in looked around. Melody walked inside after her, Sora right behind her.

"Are you…Nooj and Leblanc?" She asked them quietly. Leblanc smiled at her, nodding.

"Why of course we are, love, why wouldn't we be?" She asked, looking Melody up and down. Melody smiled nervously. Sora cleared his throat.

"About that… Kairi doesn't remember who she is." He told them. Nooj nodded.

"Not to worry, amnesia often isn't permanent. And besides, there are many treatments for it." He assured them. Yuna bit her lip.

"This definitely isn't normal amnesia." She answered. Nooj blinked at her, and she started to explain what had happened to them, with everyone else adding bits and pieces to the story as they went along. Leblanc had spent most of the time watching Emma curiously.

"And who might you be, love?"

"I'm Emma." She answered with a smile.

"So you're the one who had those strange dreams? I'd like to know more about it, if you don't mind." He told her. Emma opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a loud boom outside that made everyone jump. Baralai crossed his arms.

"That's all great, but I think we have more pressing matters." He said. Leblanc jumped to her feet.

"But Noojie-Woojie still isn't in any shape to fight!" She cried.

"Sure I am!" Nooj argued, standing up. Almost instantly, he collapsed back into his chair. His condition was deteriorating.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure we can deal." Paine said, jogging out into the hall. Yuna, Rikku, Sora, Gippal and Baralai all followed them. Melody, Emma and Tidus looked at each other. They had no weapons. The girls had gotten their dresspheres back, and the guys had collected their weapons from the Celcius. However, Tidus wasn't sure where his was, Buddy hadn't given Emma back the Sword, and Melody's had gone missing when she disappeared. Glancing around, Melody saw a large round shield sitting in the corner, badly damaged. It had been Ormi's, and Nooj and Leblanc hadn't gotten rid of it yet. Melody picked it up.

"Can I use this?" She asked. Leblanc nodded, and Melody trotted out of the room, following the others. Emma and Tidus looked at each other again.

"We'll figure something out." Tidus decided. Emma nodded in agreement and the two of them ran after the others. Outside, the groups and begun fighting again, and then a pile of fiends had made their way into Guadosalam from the Thunderplains and had joined the fight. The people were so busy fighting each other, that they stood no chance against the fiends.

"Fiends!" Rikku shouted, diving into the fray.

"The fiends! Fight the fiends!" Elma was ordering her troops desperately, grazing a lupin's head. Yuna frowned, frustrated by the fighting. She let her guard down for a moment, depressed by the conditions between the two groups.

"YUNA!" Paine cried out in warning. Yuna spun around and caught sight of a fiend pouncing at her. She shot her gun, but had very little time to aim. She grazed its side. Before there was anything else she could do to react, a huge round disk hit the fiend with a crunch, throwing it out of the air and into a wall. Melody came trotting toward her with a mischievous smile on her face. She scooped up Ormi's old shield and swung it around. Yuna smiled in approval, and together the two girls started fighting their way further into the fray. Melody's new weapon enabled her to hide almost completely behind it while she spun it, her disk still embedded in it creating a dangerous weapon. Then, Yuna got an idea.

"PAINE!" She shouted. Paine heard the call and elbowed a soldier out of the way. Paine smirked.

"Are you thinking we should teach these punks a real lesson?" She asked. Yuna nodded.

"Hey Rikku!" She called. The Al Bhed girl dropped down on them from a catwalk above, her eyes glittering.

"I like the way you guys think!" She noted.

"FULL THROTTLE!"

"MACHINA MAW!"

"FLORAL FALLAL!" Each girl was bathed in a light, Yuna in pink, Rikku in yellow and Paine in a silvery hue. Then, a flower bulb burst from the ground, enveloping Yuna and growing by the second, lifting the bulb high over the others. Handfuls of swords flew out of the ground, forming a sphere around Paine and lifting her into the air. A machina platform shot from the ground, shooting Rikku above the heads of the other fighters. Endless numbers of wires hung from the bottom of the platform, and every second, a wire pulled a strange piece of machina from the ground and it attached itself to the platform. A pair of wings burst open from Paine, the sphere of swords slowing and creating a protective cage around her. Yuna's flower bloomed, revealing her dressed all in white and looking like an angel. By this time, everyone had stopped their fighting and watching in surprise as the special dresspheres took shape. The soldiers had shied away from the girls, while the fiends, knowing that these girls were now the real threat, had formed a ring around them, snarling, roaring or hissing. One lupin caught sight of Melody, who appeared as weak in the ring. Snarling, it launched itself at her. She reacted almost instantly, disappearing behind her huge shield and sending it spinning. The lupin hit the shield with a thud. Melody barely kept her balance. The disk cut into it, and then the spinning sent it flying into the air. One of Paine's wings lifted, cutting into it effortlessly, while Yuna and Rikku both launched impressive attacks at it; Rikku with her homing missiles and Yuna with a pair of twisting rays of magic that exploded on contact, lifting it even further into the air. Melody lifted her shield over her head and the lupin landed on it with a thud. She spun it again, throwing the lupin into a flan. Neither of the fiends got back up. There was a moment of silent surprise. Elma took the opportunity.

"GET THE FIENDS!" She ordered. There was a surge of movement and the soldiers, Youth League and New Yevon alike, to attack the fiends. In moments, the movement had stopped again. Baralai walked up to the girls, who had transformed back into their usual dresspheres.

"I think you'll be pleased to hear that the fiends are no longer a threat." He stated. Yuna smiled at him. Rikku started jumping up and down.

"Hey, everybody! HEY! We need to talk to you!" She continued to jump up and down. Grinning, Gippal came up behind her. She shrieked as he grabbed her by the waist and swung her up onto his shoulders. She started giggling. Tidus seemed to like the idea, and did the exact same thing to Yuna. Paine shot Baralai and death glare and he put up his hands.

"I won't even try." He answered. Sora shot him a look, and grinning, the two walked up behind Paine and lifted her onto their backs. She glared down at them.

"You're dead when I get down." She told them. Sora grinned.

"Then I guess we can't ever let you down." He told her. Baralai laughed. Paine glared at them. Yuna grinned at Rikku.

"Do you think another concert might help things?"

"It definitely worked last time!" She answered. Paine shrugged.

"Like they say, don't fix something that isn't broken." She added. Yuna waved her hands over her head. A quiet settled over the crowd.

"Hey! Spread the word! There will be another concert next week in Luca, if a truce can be reached between the Youth League and New Yevon! I know for a fact that your leaders already agree to it, so all we need is your willingness to stop the fighting."

"Alright, lets do it!" Rikku shouted, throwing her hands into the air and yelping as she almost fell backwards off Gippal's shoulders. A cheer rose from the crowd at her words. Yuna and Rikku both dropped to the ground with a little help from Tidus and Gippal. Paine looked expectantly at Baralai and Sora. Sora laughed.

"Are you still going to kill us?" He asked. Paine nodded. Baralai and Sora looked at each other, and shook their heads. Then, both of them started to walk after the others. Paine kicked, catching Sora's arm. He yelped, his grip loosening. Paine pushed down on their shoulders, throwing herself backwards. Landing quickly on her feet, she gazed threateningly at them. Sora and Baralai looked at each other, horrified. Then, both of them raced off at a sprint, with Paine on their heels. Sora caught up to Melody and swung around her, using poor Melody as a shield. She hadn't been expecting him. She tripped over his shoe and grabbed at him to keep herself up. He stumbled, trying to keep both of the standing, but her foot was caught between his, holding them both for a moment before they went sprawling on the ground. Melody rolled off Sora and sat up. Sora rubbed his head, groaning. Paine caught up with Baralai and grabbed him. He grinned up at her.

"Paine, you're looking beautiful." He said sweetly. Her eyes narrowed.

"Don't even bother." She threatened. She looked mad, but he could see her trying not to laugh.

"Why not?" He smiled, wrapped an arm around her shoulders and closed the gap between them, kissing her gently. He broke the kiss quickly, and watched her carefully, unsure of whether or not he should be taking the chance of her moment of surprise to run. She smirked.

"That was quick." She noted. He paused, not sure what she was getting at. Then, he smiled.

"Oh, I get it, you like kisses long and sensual." He answered. She raised her eyebrows.

"That's not exactly how I would have put it, but…" He cut her off by kissing her again. It all seemed very romantic, until Rikku came trotting towards them.

"OH Paine-y, it's gettin' steamy!" She said, laughing. Paine glanced darkly at her.

"I'm going to hurt you." She threatened. Rikku started to laugh.

"That's what you told him, too. Look how _that_ one turned out." She accused. Rikku walked up to her with a silly grin. Paine took the chance and elbowed her in the side. She jumped backwards, yelping. Yuna started laughing at them. A loud beep caught everyone's attention.

"I hear you've been making plans without us?" Buddy asked over the comm.. Paine made a face.

"A little." She answered. "We've kind of promised a concert in Luca a week from now, if a truce can be formed."

"Oh. Good idea." Shinra noted, clearly impressed. Yuna beamed.

"Thanks!"

"I'll get on it. We need to book the stadium, get some advertising…" Shinra's voice faded as he walked away from his microphone. There was some shouting from Brother in the background that sounded suspiciously like 'Yuna dancing? I am there!' followed by Buddy chastising him in Al Bhed. Rikku was the only one who caught (and understood) his words, and started to laugh hysterically. Paine sighed.

"Am I going to have to hurt Brother when we get back?" She asked almost wearily. Rikku snickered.

"Ask Tidus, he's the one who's got himself a rival." She answered. Tidus blinked at her.

"Excuse me?" He asked. Rikku shrugged.

"Nothing." She answered innocently. Tidus caught her in a headlock, grinning.

"Tell me or I'll toss you into the water when we get to Luca!" He threatened. She giggled, kneeing him in the back of the leg. He stumbled backwards, though he didn't let go of her like she had expected. Both of them tumbled over backwards. Yuna walked over and pulled them both to their feet, rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry about Brother." She advised. Rikku nodded.

"Good advice Yunie!" She agreed. The crowds, still more or less in shock, had scattered and begun to return to Mushroom Rock Road, Bevelle and Djose. Melody was still holding the damaged shield. She looked at it, and then at the others. Paine shook her head.

"Trust me, Shinra will come up with something much better than that piece of junk." She told her bluntly. Melody nodded silently, tossing it aside and boarding the airship.

………………………..

Gak. I hate writers block. I know exactly what I want to write, I just can't get from here to there. Sheesh. Oh well, I'll keep trying though! RnR guys!


	12. Splashing and concerting

In this chappie, I'm going to bring in Namine. If you've never played Chain of Memories (and therefore wouldn't know who she is) it's okay, because neither have I ;) Anyways, I'm basing her character loosely on what I do know about her, so if you have played CoM, she probably won't fit into the same mold, but I'm kind of hoping there will be some similarities…

…………………………………

Within the week, there were rumours of New Yevon members being the first invited to Youth League festivals, and vice versa, and generally a new sense of peace all around. The Celcius was in the harbour in Luca. It was still about 10 minutes before they had to get to the stadium for the show. Melody was sitting on a box next to Rikku, looking out over the water.

"So, Kairi, are you going to sing with us again?" She asked excitedly. Melody blinked in surprise.

"You want _me_ to sing?" She asked. Rikku nodded vigorously, grinning.

"Of course! You were a BIG hit in Zanarkand!" She answered. Like usual, Melody only had a vague idea of what she was talking about, but had to take her word for it. She sighed, frustrated.

"It's annoying not being able to remember." She said with a pout. Rikku gave her a hug.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find a way to remember. And we'll help you do whatever it takes. Promise." The Al Bhed girl said reassuringly. Melody smiled genuinely at her.

"Thanks Rikku."

"No problem! I'm off to see what everyone else is up to, coming?" Rikku asked. Melody hopped off the box, but then seemed to change her mind and shook her head.

"No thanks, I'll catch up with you later." She answered quietly. Rikku nodded and trotted off, calling for Yuna. Melody sat on the ground and looked down into the crystal water. It reflected the powder blue sky overhead so perfectly. She leaned over, looking straight down, and ran a finger through the water. Her reflection was distorted for a long moment, but when it reappeared again, her reflection was a Heartless. She frowned and splashed it away, hitting the water with her flat hand. She hit something, as if she was giving someone a high five. Confusion was written all over her face as she watched the reflection clear once again, her hand still pressed against whatever it was she felt. She leaned forward further, putting her weight on her hand. She put her other hand to the water's surface, and felt another hand pressed against hers, seemingly from under the water. The reflection finally cleared, and in it was the same blonde girl she'd seen in the mirror earlier.

"Who are you?" Both Melody and her blonde reflection asked at the same time.

"I'm Melody…or Kairi."

"My name's Namine." Both girls spoke at the same time, and were barely able to make out what the other had said due to their own voices. They had almost all their weight on each other's hands, leaning towards the water. Melody watched her curiously. Wherever Namine was, it was cloudy and beginning to rain; she could see the drops hitting the water.

"Where are you?"

"Why do you look like me?" They asked each other. Then they laughed. A slight movement from the both of them sent the reflections back into distortion. Melody watched patiently for the reflection to clear. When it did, she saw herself. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She peered deeper into the water, and suddenly felt her center of gravity throw forward. Namine's hands, which she'd been leaning on, were gone, and she dropped forward into the water. The cold sent her into momentary shock, and she flipped over and over, sinking deeper. By the time she regained control of herself, she was completely disoriented and started to panic. She couldn't tell which way was up and her air was running out fast. An odd sensation come over her, and she tensed up, instinctively trying to fight whatever it was, but it was too late; her panic had gotten enough of a grip on her consciousness that she couldn't stop whatever it was that was taking control. Darkness was eating away at the corners of her vision, and within moments she found herself falling into darkness. She felt oddly separated from her body, and she began to remember things that she had forgotten, but a moment later, she had forgot them again, and even those memories that she had were slowly but surely disappearing. Instinctively, she reached upwards; there was still some glimmer of light far above her. Hearing a noise, she twisted around, and saw someone falling towards her from behind. She blinked in surprise. _I guess gravity doesn't really apply here…_ she thought to herself tiredly. As the other person fell towards her, she reached towards them and caught their hand, which was stretched out towards her. Both were tugged to a stop, finding themselves floating in the middle of darkness, holding desperately onto each other's hands. Both girls stared at each other. Both of them were dripping wet, both of them had apparently fallen into water. The other girl was Namine.

"What's going on?" She asked desperately. Melody paused, getting a massive headache, her brain feeling like it was being stuffed. A moment later, the feeling had passed and her eyes went wide in understanding.

"Oh no, the Heartless! It's coming out!"

"What do you mean? Are you part Heartless too?" Namine asked in surprise.

"Me_ too_? You mean you are?"

"Yes! I thought I was the only one!"

"So did I, but we have to do something! This isn't the first time this has happened to me, but I've never fallen so far, and I'm not sure that we'll be able to fight our way back."

"What do we do?" There was a long pause.

"I don't know, I guess we have to hope someone comes to help us…"

…………………………

Rikku came running up the pier towards Sora. She skidding to a stop in front of him.

"Have you seen Yunie around?"

"She's over there." He told her, pointing. "Is Kairi down here?" He asked. Rikku nodded and ran off again. Sora strolled down the pier towards Melody, seeing her sitting on the ground, leaning over the water. He blinked, deciding that the way she was sitting couldn't be entirely possible, because it made it look like the water was holding her up. She had a strange look on her face. He picked up his pace, wondering what the matter was. Without warning, she dropped forward into the water. Sora was taken aback fro a moment, then started to run.

"Kairi!" He skidded to a stop next to the edge and saw her figure dropping deeper and deeper into the water. Taking a deep breath, he dove in after her. The cold water was slightly disorienting. He glanced around and caught sight of the small shadow below him, still sinking like a stone. She stopped moving. With a sharp kick, he shot down into the water after her. She was sinking slower now, the momentum from her fall wearing off. He started to kick harder, catching quickly up to her. As he approached, her limbs started to thrash. Getting closer, his eyes went wide. He knew what was going on. The Heartless sign in her ankle was burning blindingly. Her eyes were wide and her irises blood red. A pair of grotesque Heartless antennae grew out from her head. He gave one more kick towards her and grabbed her wrist, trying to drag her upward. She pulled her wrist from his grip savagely. He tried again and she reacted the same way, glaring furiously at him. He frowned and grabbed her, pulling her towards him and grabbing her by the waist. With one kick they shot upwards. She fought him tooth and nail, loosing herself further every second to the Heartless. She dug her nails into his shoulder, pulling at his skin as they surfaced. He gasped, both in pain and need of air. She was snarling viciously at him. Helpless to do much of anything else, he kissed her. She tried to pull away, fighting and biting for the first few moments, and then relaxed, and soon started to kiss him back. She felt something wet on her lips and pulled away in surprise, breathing hard. His bottom lip was bleeding terribly. Gasping, she touched the cut. He cringed.

"Did…I do that to you?" She asked quietly. Sora ignored the question, not saying yes but also not saying no, and pushed her wet hair out of her face.

"Are you okay?"

"Me? I'm fine, don't worry about me, it's you I'm worried about." She answered. He climbed up onto the side of the pier, and pulled her up next to him.

"I'm alright, it's just a few scrapes. What happened to you?" He asked worriedly. She paused and scratched her head, trying to piece everything together.

"I don't really know. I saw Namine's reflection in the water, so…"

"Who's Namine?" He interrupted, blinking. She paused.

"I...uh...well, I don't really know." She admitted slowly. "She looks like me, but she has blonde hair, and I keep seeing her in my reflection. She's a lot like me, I think, she's even part Heartless like me and-."

"Wait, how did you know you're part Heartless? I didn't tell you about that, did I?" He asked suspiciously. She paused, a grin slowly spreading across her face.

"Give me a minute, I'll get to that." She answered. His eyes went wide, but he stayed silent. She giggled and continued. "Anyways, I saw my Heartless reflection in the water, so I splashed it away, but I hit something. I think I hit Namine's hand, so I looked back at the reflection and saw her in the water. I guess I didn't realize how far over the water I was leaning, so when she disappeared, I fell in. I thought I blacked out, and I felt like I was falling. Namine was falling towards me, so we caught each other to keep from falling further. For a while, I felt like my head was getting stuffed, and then..." She stopped, looking up. Emma was walking towards them.

"I've been sent to come get you, the show's starting soon and the girls want you in the stadium A.S.A.P." With that, she grabbed the other girl's hand and pulled her to her feet.

"Wait a second!" Sora called after them, but they were already racing down the docks, their laughs echoing back towards him. He frowned. He was sure she remembered. Or at least pretty sure... He sighed, deciding that there would only be one way to find out, and wandered down the pier towards Tidus and Baralai, who were walking to the stadium.

...

Emma flung open the door to the dressing room and walked inside.

"Hey Kairi, why are you soaking wet anyways?" She asked, sitting the other girl down on a towel-covered chair.

"I remembered!" She answered feverishly. "But I didn't get to tell Sora!" She whined. Rikku, Paine and Yuna were sitting across the room, and all of them went silent.

"You remember?" Yuna asked quickly. Kairi jumped to her feet and walked around the room.

"Our dressing room in Zanarkand looked like this one, just with different colours, right? And the festival that we sang at there was for Tidus's blitzball team?" She asked excitedly. She skipped over to them and threw her arms around the closest one, who happened to be Paine. Yuna and Rikku jumped to their feet and hugged Kairi. Paine grunted, being crushed by the other girls. Emma skipped over and joined the group hug. Paine groaned again.

"Guys!" She cried, her voice muffled. Kairi gasped and pulled back, grinning sheepishly.

"Sorry Paine." She said quietly. Emma glanced at her watched and gasped.

"Kairi, we have to get you changed! You need to be on stage in a couple of minutes guys!" She announced. Kairi started digging through the closet while the Gullwing girls tried to figure out a way to share their garment grids and the songstress dressphere with her. Emma was having more success at putting together an outfit, so Yuna started to tame Kairi's hair, which had become quite frizzy and teased by her 'ordeal'. By the time they had all gotten finished, she looked as breath-taking as she had last time they had made her over. She twirled in front of the mirror and smiled.

"You guys are amazing!" She announced. There was a knock at the door, and a voice called through it.

"The girls are on in five! Hurry it up!" Yuna pushed open the door and jogged down the hall, followed by Kairi, then Paine and Rikku and Emma. They made it to the back stage and looked at each other. Emma grinned.

"Good luck guys!" She said, laughing. Rikku frowned.

"Are you not coming?"

"Me? I don't sing. I dance. Besides, this is for you guys." She told them, motioning towards the stage. Yuna shot her one last smile, before finding herself, followed by Rikku, Paine and Kairi, in the spot light surrounded by a roaring crowd, the entire stadium filled energy. She smiled. This might just be an even bigger success than the last concert. Wakka and Lulu were with the guys, front row. She smiled charmingly at them and began to sing.

………………….

WOOT! Another chappie done, and I think I kicked the writer's block! YESSSS! rnr everyone!


	13. Leaving them behind

Yuna's singing was amazing, and immensely popular. The roar of the crowds was nearly deafening after every song, and showed no sign of fading. Yuna shot a grin at Kairi, but then a strange look passed over her face. Kairi's smile disappeared.

"Yuna? Are you alright?" She asked worriedly. Yuna made a face.

"I'm not sure what's wrong…" She answered. Then her eyes went wide. The same thought hit Kairi at the same time. Paine and Rikku were there now too, also wondering what was going on. Yuna cringed.

"You guys have to go on without me. The baby's acting up." She told them. She took one step, and paused, grinning. "I can't believe I actually just said that!" She exclaimed, giggling. Rikku gave her a quick hug, and sent her off the stage, where Emma was waiting with a worried expression. Kairi walked over to the edge of the stage, where the others were sitting, and spoke to Tidus.

"You'd better go see Yuna, I think." She told him. He didn't ask any questions, and was on his way instantly. Meanwhile, Rikku and Paine were speaking to the audience.

"Give one last round of applause for Yunie!" Rikku shouted into the microphone. Cheers erupted from the crowd. They waited a moment for everyone to be settled down, and then Paine spoke.

"Just because Yuna's not singing anymore doesn't mean the show's over!" She announced. Cheers once again followed. Kairi was walking back towards the center of the stage, thinking about how to tell everyone that she remembered. Especially Sora. She was suddenly pulled out of her thoughts when Rikku spoke again.

"That's right! 'Cause we've got Kairi here to sing for us!" There were further cheers, despite the fact that no one knew who Kairi was. Rikku grinned. Kairi blinked in surprise, unprepared. Paine motioned for her to go to the microphone. She made a face, and then a thought came to her and she smiled, taking the mic and clearing her throat.

……………

Sora had gone with Tidus to check on Yuna. What Kairi had said worried everyone, and so they sent him with Tidus to get an explanation and come back to tell them what was going on. They slowly but surely found their way to the dressing room, where Yuna and Emma were waiting. Tidus paused outside the closed door, and Sora could tell exactly what he was thinking.

"Don't worry, I'm sure she's fine." He said reassuringly. Tidus nodded, not entirely convinced that he wouldn't find something terrible once in the room, and opened the door. They found Yuna relaxing on a couch, with Emma standing next to her, asking her if she wanted painkillers. Yuna shook her head.

"It's alright; it doesn't hurt that much anymore. I think I'm just going to have to take it easy for a while." She answered. Tidus and Sora poked their heads in the door.

"Hey Yuna, you okay?" Sora asked, with a slight smile. Tidus walked inside and sat down on the floor next to her. There was a long pause, in which Yuna and Tidus held a whispered conversation. Tidus sighed with relief.

"Go tell everyone she's fine." He said, grinning. Yuna giggled.

"It's just the baby." She paused for a moment, grinning. "I still can't get over the fact that I can say that!" She said. Sora grinned back at them.

"Okay, as long as you're alright. Everyone was really worried."

"Then you'd better get back to them and tell them what's up." Emma suggested. Sora nodded and looked at Tidus, who shook his head.

"I'm going to stay here with Yuna." He answered. Sora nodded and shut the door, making his way back to the concert. He could hear a song playing, and it seemed somewhat recognizable. Once he opened the door to the stadium, it hit him.

"Hold me,

Whatever lies beyond this morning

Is a little later on

Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all

Nothing's like before"

The song, from the dream. Kairi was singing it. Mesmerized, he stood at the door as she finished. Looking over, she caught his eye and shot him a sly smile. He grinned back and sat in his seat. He had no idea how she knew it, but he also now had absolutely no doubt in his mind that she remembered. Gippal nudged him to ask what was up with Yuna, but stopped when Kairi started singing again, blinking in surprise.

"I still remember the world  
From the eyes of a child  
Slowly those feelings  
Were clouded by what I know now…"

All the guys stared openly at her, surprised, while Lulu and Wakka attempted to get one of them to tell Sora to explain what was wrong with Yuna, though unsuccessfully. Baralai, who was sitting on the other side of Sora, leaned over to him.

"No way she's really singing that, is she?" He asked. Sora nodded.

"She remembers. I could tell from the last song."

"So, it really is the song she sang for the goddess?" Gippal asked, joining the conversation. Sora nodded again.

"What happened? How come she suddenly remembers?" Baralai asked. Sora shrugged.

"I don't really know, but it has something to do with a girl named Namine. She tried to explain it…" He paused. "But we were interrupted." He finished vaguely. Gippal opened his mouth to ask another question, but Wakka elbowed him in the side, hard. He yelped, muffling the sound with his hand over his mouth, and glared at Wakka, who glared right back.

"Somebody _please_ tell me what's goin' on with Yuna, ya?" He asked, exasperated. Sora then told everyone what was going on.

"She says she's getting baby pains." He answered, clearly happy for her. Baralai and Gippal both grinned back at him, while Wakka blinked at him.

"Baby pains! Yuna's pregnant!" He asked in shock. Lulu had her eyebrows raised, demanding an explanation. Gippal smirked.

"It's a funny story, actually…" He told them all about the night in Luca, with the crazy room switching and all, while Sora (who was the only one of them there for the entire hallway conversation) told them about the confusion in the morning. Wakka looked helpless for a moment, and then decided it was indeed funny and started to chuckle. Lulu looked mildly horrified, but got over it in a moment or two. They hadn't realized it, but the show was over and people were beginning to leave. They entered the crowds of people and prepared for the long wait ahead of them to get to the doors. Gippal got a better idea.

"No need to wait guys, follow me!" In one swift move, he leapt onto the stage and then into the backstage. The others decided that this was clearly a much better idea, and followed him as he led the way to the dressing room. Halfway there, however, he and Sora got into an argument over which way to go.

"It's right!" Sora insisted. Gippal crossed his arms.

"That doesn't make any sense Sora! I has to be to the left."

"No it doesn't! I know the way, I was _just there_!" He answered. Gippal snorted.

"No offense, but I wouldn't trust you with directions. As I remember it, you only found Spira because you were lost on your way to somewhere else."

"Maybe so, but I did get us t Traverse Town right after that. Besides, Donald was in charge of directions, not me! He would never let me fly the gummi ship."

"And I know why." Gippal insisted.

"Yeh, that way he would never have to admit that I was a better navigator than he was! I'm serious, it's this way." With that, Sora marched down the right-hand hallway. Gippal watched him go.

"Hmph." He stomped off in his own direction. The others looked at each other. They had no reason to distrust Sora. His argument had been true, he had been there just a few minutes ago and was bound to know the way better than Gippal, who hadn't yet gone to the dressing rooms. One by one, they all followed Sora down the right hallway.

…………………………

The changing room was full of people, but they were all silent.

"You know this means Yuna has to stay with us on Besaid, she can't go with you on your adventures. At least not for the next while." Lulu told them.

"If Yuna's staying, than so am I." Tidus said firmly. There was another long silence.

"But now there's only seven of us!" Rikku whined.

"We need ten…" Paine continued. "The prophesy says ten hearts, not seven. What do we do now?" There was another long silence, followed by the door slamming open. Gippal stomped in. Sora snickered.

"I told you so." He muttered. Gippal shot him a death glare, and Sora had to laugh at it. It wasn't very intimidating. Baralai crossed him arms.

"So, do we wait until the baby's born and Yuna's well enough to come with us again, or not?" He asked. Kairi sighed.

"Yuna's the only one of us who got pregnant. Maybe it's a sign that she and Tidus weren't meant to come." She suggested.

"But who else can we bring? We're missing three…" Gippal stated slowly.

"Well, one of those three is Riku. I guess we should start there." Emma suggested. "Either we'll find the other two we are missing on our way, or he might be able to suggest who else might be the ones we need."

"That's a great idea, but where are we ever going to find Riku?" Kairi asked. Then, an idea popped into her head. "Wait a minute, I found him through that door on the islands... why don't we start our search there? Even if we don't find anything, it'll at least give us a chance to let everyone know where we are and that we're alright." She said. There was another pause. No one could find any reason why they shouldn't. It was as good an idea as any.

"Let's do it." Paine said, confirming it.

…………………………

On Besaid Islands, there were many mixed emotions. On one hand, everyone was excited for Yuna and Tidus and their baby. On the other, they were going to miss the two of them greatly. There were hugs and promises of stories when they got back. Rikku was the last to say her goodbyes.

"I'll bring you something home, kay?" Rikku promised, hugging Yuna furiously. Yuna smiled.

"Thanks. I'll miss you….Rikku…you're…choking…me…" She gasped. Rikku let go with a grin.

"I'll miss you too, Yunie!" She turned around to face Tidus, and tackled him in a bone crushing hug as well.

"See ya! I hope being a daddy doesn't make you as tubby as it made Wakka!" She said, laughing. Wakka looked up at it, his eyes narrowing.

"Hey!"

"I'm just kidding….tubby." With that, she ran off, giggling madly and waving. Everyone else had begun to make their way to the beach. As they watched, she came skidding to a stop next to Gippal as he walked down the road, almost colliding with him.

The group boarded the Celcius and took off for the Destiny Islands. Buddy was piloting alone; Brother had locked himself in the engine room because they were leaving without Yuna, and leaving her with Tidus. When Emma and Kairi voiced their pity for him, Rikku told them flat out that they weren't aloud to feel sorry for him. Other than that, the ride was totally uneventful, until they arrived. Or rather, didn't.

…………………….

Dun dun dun! Haha, I left a cliffy (thanks to Emma for the idea). Very exicting! I was planning on writing more, but that would take me too long, and I figure the sooner the update, the better, right? Even if it is a little shorter. Math is killing my brain, so please bear with me. RnR!


	14. The End of the World

The Celcius was floating in the middle of space, with no sign of anything in site. Sora frowned.

"These have to be the coordinates…" He said, looking down at the screen. This is where the Destiny Islands should have been, but they weren't there. He frowned. He knew these were the right coordinates; he had them so well memorized since the incident with Kingdom Hearts, he knew he could never forget them. He'd been so looking forward to going back, to seeing Kairi again, he'd made sure he knew them off by heart. He frowned again. Kairi looked out the windows, straining her eyes.

"…What happened?" She asked. Everyone else was all looking at Sora expectantly. He blinked, then sighed. A new idea was forming in his head, and, sadly, it made a lot of sense.

"I know what happened. The Islands were disconnected from the Terminus." He said slowly.

"The Terma-what?…?" Gippal asked, furrowing his eyebrows and nearly crossing his eyes in confusion. Rikku giggled at him. Sora sighed.

"There's a place called the World Terminus. The planets were connected through it. The Islands were once part of the Terminus, but I fought Ansem there. I beat him once, and to regain enough power to fight me again, he removed the Islands from the Terminus to access Kingdom Hearts and rejuvenate himself. That backfired when he found out that the Kingdom Hearts was full of light, but he still permanently disconnected the Islands from the Terminus, so that means the Islands must have been disconnected from the rest of the worlds shortly afterwards…" As he spoke, Kairi watched him with interest. She could see, even if he acted like the same Sora she always knew, that his experiences had scarred him, but at the same time he was wiser, more mature than he let on. He crossed his arms. Kairi blinked at him, her eyes going wide.

"Of course! Sora, that's brilliant!" She cried. Everyone stared at her in surprise. She cleared her throat, blushing a little, and started to explain herself. "Everyone said that once Ansem was defeated and Sora found Kingdom Hearts, the worlds would become disconnected again, like they were before the Heartless came. But they're not, because they're still connected through the World Terminus, except for the Islands. If everyone thought that the planets would be disconnected, they all must have assumed that when Ansem was defeated, the entire End of the World would go with him. The fact that everything's still connected means that the End of the World still exists, and the entrance to Kingdom Hearts is still there." She said breathlessly, grinning. Sora nodded, grinning back at her.

"And since the last place we saw Riku was in Kingdom Hearts, we should be able to find him there, right?" He asked, looking for everyone else's approval. Paine shrugged.

"It seems like as good an idea as any." She said. Rikku nodded in agreement.

"Let's do it!" She shouted. Baralai crossed his arms.

"It seems like a good plan, but I can imagine we'll have to be careful. From what you've told us, it seems to me that this End of the World is the final stronghold of darkness, and if we're ever going to encounter Heartless, that's where they'll be." He said. Sora nodded.

"That's true, but the Heartless shouldn't be a big problem." Sora said, waving his Keyblade through the air. In one smooth movement, he had a new keychain on it and it became a most impressive weapon. "That's what I've got the Oathkeeper for." He glanced at Kairi. She looked back at him, a small smile passing across her lips. Gippal looked both impressed and confused.

"That's cool, but why is it called the Oathkeeper?" He asked. Sora's eyes flashed back to Kairi, whose smile widened. He grinned.

"Because this is Kairi's keychain, and when she gave it to me, she made me promise I'd come back for her." He said simply. Rikku giggled.

"AWW SORA! That's so romantic!" She said, going starry eyed. Paine rolled her eyes at her, while Sora and Kairi both blushed bright red. Paine sighed.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road. Where's this End of the World?"

"It's not far from here." Sora answered, walking over to Buddy and pointing this out to him on the screen while Buddy hit seemingly endless buttons. Then, suddenly, the Celcius lurched forward and they were off once again.

……………………

Part of the way through the trip, Shinra spun his chair around to face the rest of them and cleared his throat proudly.

"Here are the missing weapons." He stated. He handed Tidus his Brotherhood, and then beckoned Emma over. He offered her the Mana Sword, though it looked slightly different from before. Shinra made a face.

"My apologies. Buddy got it from the goddess and stored it on the Celcius, but when I came to collect it for you, it was like this. I tried to fix it, but every time I touched it, it burned me." He said. Emma picked it up cautiously, afraid that it might burn her as well. It didn't. Before, it had a long, straight blade. Now, the blade was rippled and covered with so many engravings that it was hard to make out what shape it had taken. The engravings looped through the steel, creating breathtaking patterns and signs. She smiled at the young Al Bhed.

"It's no problem. I think it's absolutely beautiful." She answered. Next, Shinra stood up in his seat.

"And now for Kairi's weapon. Since she lost her last one, I took the liberty of making her a new one." With that, he held out a clump of cloth, dark red and patterned in gold and navy blue. It was held him place with strips of silvery metal. They all stared at him, having no idea what it was. Shinra grinned proudly. "I present to you the most versatile weapon ever." He said. They all continued to simply stare at him in confusion. His grin widened. "Allow me to demonstrate." He said, holding it out. With a clean flick of his wrist, the clump snapped open. It was a fan. Confusion was still written all over their faces. He twisted his wrist, showing them the back of the fan. Where the 'fingers' of the fan were usually, there were sets of thin blades, hidden just beneath the top of the cloth. "They're throwing knives." He told them. "They're spring loaded, so if you hit this button here…" He touched a shape carved out of the handle, "they'll shoot out. There're three sets loaded in it, and I have extras if you need them." He snapped it shut again. Kairi grinned at him.

"That's very impressive. Thanks." She stated with a smile, reaching for her weapon. Shinra pulled it out of her reach.

"There's more." He answered. Kairi raised her eyebrows. Shinra tossed it into air and caught it by the cloth side. He ran his thumb along the edge of the silver strip, catching a switch. A long metal pole with a sharpened end sprung out of the fan's handle, with a copper wire coiled around it. Everyone watched curiously, no one knowing exactly what it was. He tilted it down until it was a few inches from the floor. Without any warning, electricity jumped from the tip into the floor with a startling crackle.

"It's called a coil blade." He told them. Rikku jumped to her feet.

"I want one of those!" She announced. Shinra retracted the electric staff and crossed his arms.

"Like I'd let you get your hands on one of these. Who knows what kind of damage you'd do to yourself?" He answered sharply. Rikku sat back down, pouting, while Shinra handed the fan to Kairi. She grinned.

"Thanks a lot Shinra, this thing's awesome!"

……………………

The End of the World was a breathtakingly terrible place. The seven of them were standing in a huge cavern, the walls covered in ledges and paths that zigged and zagged through it. All the ground was covered in snow-like shimmer. They stood in a circle around a big hole in the ledge they were currently standing on. Just below in the hole was a circle of light, wisps of shimmering white rising from its surface.

"What is it?" Emma asked finally. Sora shrugged.

"I don't really know, but I do know that it takes you to the World Terminus, so, here goes…" With that, he jumped from the ledge into the whiteness below. He disappeared instantly into it, the white surface rippling like water. Kairi made a face and jumped in after him, her stomach dropping unpleasantly as she hit the light. Her skin tingled as she was temporarily surrounded by light. Then, all at once, she came stumbling out onto a platform. Sora was there waiting for her. She looked around. They were on one of many platforms, seemingly disconnected, forming a circle. Behind her was what looked like a star, small and sparkling white. She jumped back when Rikku jumped out of it with a flash, followed closely by Emma. The edges of the platform were jagged, and the roof above them looked like the same platform, only upside down, suspended slightly so they could see the seemingly endless black around them, as well as the other platforms. Gippal joined them next, followed by Baralai and Paine. Rikku looked around in awe.

"What is this place?" She asked, her voice hushed.

"This is the World Terminus." Sora answered. In the center of the platform was a pillar of coloured light. Sora beckoned for them to follow and walked with not hesitation into the pillar. They all followed him, though more reluctant than he had been. They found themselves in the third district of Traverse Town. Kairi grinned.

"Hey! I know where we are!" She stated. "I wonder if Squall and Yuffie and everyone made it back here safely?" She asked, skipping forward. Sora caught her arm and pulled her back.

"Be careful." He warned. Paine glanced around uneasily.

"I get the feeling that this isn't as it seems." She answered. Emma took one cautious step forward, her eyes shooting from place to place as she expected to find something jumping out at her from any direction. She paused when she saw three spots of black moving around on the ground. They grew into puddles, moving faster. A pair of eyes appeared on one of them and glared up at her. She jumped in surprise and stabbed at it with her sword. All she did was jam her weapon into the ground. She was taken aback, and the creatures took the opportunity. All three jumped out of the ground and leapt at her. Instantly, Sora's Keyblade slashed through all three of them in one swipe. Within the next moment, five Heartless Soldiers appeared. This time when Emma attacked, she hit it. Kairi decided that now was as good a time as any to test out her new weapon. She lashed out at the nearest one with her coil blade, the tip cutting into it and the electricity shooting through it. It leapt back, disoriented and nearly paralyzed for a moment. It parried her next attack and watched her warily. She attacked it again, and this time, its attempt at a block only pinned its arms to its body as the electricity course through it, the shock too much for it. It dropped to the ground and disappeared in a cloud of shadows. The others had dealt with the rest of the Heartless Soldiers. She smiled.

"I like it." She stated. With that, they followed Sora out of the Third District and back into the World Terminus. Each platform's pillar was a doorway to a piece of each world, and every time, there were Heartless waiting to hinder them on their way. Through the Rabbits House, the courtyard outside the Olympic Stadium, the streets of Agrabah, the watery caverns of Atlantis, Oogey's Manor, Hook's ship and the Hundred Acre Wood. Finally, they made it to the last platform on the World Terminus. This time in the center was a gaping hole. Sora walked up to the edge and looked down. Rikku followed him.

"We don't have to go down there, do we?" She asked. Sora nodded.

"We do." He answered indifferently. She frowned.

"Oh pooey." She whined. Gippal walked up to her and slung his arm around her shoulders.

"Aww, is poor Rikku scared?" He asked. She shrugged his arm off her and glared at him.

"Of course not!" She cried, taking a step back. She was on the edge of the hole. She smirked at him and took one last step, dropping it. Sora gasped.

"Wait! Rikku don't!" He shouted after her. He sighed, rolling his eyes and jumped in after her. On the other side, he was caught by the shimmer of fairy dust, thanks to Tinkerbell. Rikku, however, was not. She let out a yelp, free falling with no bottom in sight. Sora shot down after her, summoning Tinkerbell.

"Help her!" He ordered. Tink nodded and shot down after Rikku. A moment later, he heard a sneeze, followed by giggling. Rikku flew up towards him.

"This is fun!" She said, doing a somersault. Sora shrugged.

"It's a good thing I had Tinkerbell, or we would have been in big trouble." He answered, beckoning for her to follow him back up. They popped out of the hole and landed gracefully on the platform. Rikku jumped up, expecting to be caught by the fairy dust again, but instead landed not-so gracefully on her knees on the ground.

"Hey! That's not cool!" She decided. Sora shrugged.

"The dust only works in certain places. Here is not one of them." He answered. "Now, before anyone else does that…" He summoned Tinkerbell again, and she sprinkled the dust of everyone, followed by a chorus of sneezes.

"What is this stuff?" Baralai asked. Sora grinned.

"Fairy dust. Now we can jump." He told them.

"And we couldn't before…?" Paine asked slowly. Sora made a face.

"Trust me, you'll see." With that, he jumped.

……………………

They made it to the Final Rest without much more difficulty, meeting with only few other Heartless. They all stood in silence before the door.

"…Is this it?" Emma asked, breaking the silence. Sora shook his head.

"It's on the other side of this door." He answered simply. Not saying any more, he pushed the door open and stepped inside, unsure of what they would find. They found themselves standing on a dirt road, surrounded on all sides by fields of green grass dotted with trees. A cloudless blue sky was high over their head, a brilliantly bright sun shining.

"Where are we?" Paine asked. She wasn't sure what she had expected to find, but this certainly wasn't it. Sora sighed.

"This is the Years Road. I should have known. The door to Kingdom Hearts here was locked. We can't get to Riku from here. Sorry guys." He said sadly. Kairi watched him.

"It's not your fault Sora. It's okay. We just have to find another way. There will always be a door to the light, remember?"


	15. Unexpected Meeting

Back on the Celcius, things were quiet. No one was quite sure of what to do next. Emma crossed her arms.

"I say we sleep on it." She suggested. Rikku yawned.

"Good idea. I'm pooped." One by one, they trudged into the cabin to get ready for bed.

………………………

A loud roar from the engines awoke everyone. Surprised and slightly worried, they scrambled to reach the bridge. Once there, they found Buddy and Shinra, both still in their pajamas, desperately pushing buttons.

"What going on?" Paine demanded. Shinra hit some more buttons.

"We're not sure yet." He admitted. Rikku stared at him.

"What do you mean, you don't know? I thought you were supposed to be a boy genius!" She shouted. The Celcius was moving at an alarming rate through space, towards an unknown destination. Finally, the ship pulled to a stop. Buddy sighed in relief.

"Sorry for the scare everyone." He stated.

"What was that about?" Paine demanded, clearly grumpy at the prospect of waking up before she was ready to.

"Hang on." Buddy pushed some more buttons, opened his mouth to answer, but shut it again, a look of confusion crossing his face. Rikku bounced forward.

"What, what, what? What is it?" She asked hurriedly. It wasn't the first time that everyone else wondered how she could possibly have so much energy ALL the time. She leaned over Buddy's shoulder, eyes wide with curiosity. "A sphere?" She blurted in surprise, causing Buddy to jump back, clasping his hand over his ear and glaring at her.

"No, it's not a sphere." He answered sharply. "It's a message." He told everyone.

"From who? From who?" Rikku demanded in a whiny voice, becoming very irritating very fast. Buddy narrowed his eyes at her.

"Give me a minute and I'll check." He answered, his voice having a grumpy edge. He pushed some more buttons. "I can't tell, the message is really fuzzy, and jumbled." He stated slowly, scratching his head. Shinra swiveled his chair around to face everyone.

"It's encoded for another type of receiver. It's not one I've never seen before. I can decode it, but that'll take me a few hours." He told them. Paine glared at Rikku.

"Well, we're up now, we might as well go check it out. You can translate it while we're on our way." She said.

"I don't see why we shouldn't. We don't have much else to do." Baralai agreed. Rikku giggled.

"Aww come on, how much sleep were you two really getting?" She asked. Paine growled at her.

"You loose a million respect points, Rikku." She said simply.

"But, but…what? NO!" Rikku cried, whining. Paine put her hands on her hips.

"And if you don't quiet down, it'll be more." She threatened. Rikku's eyes went as wide as saucers and she bit her lip. Gippal started laughing at her.

"Rikku, you just lost a million respect points, I don't think it matters if you loose any more." He told her. Paine glared at him.

"If you give her any ideas…" She started to say darkly. Gippal grinned.

"Me? Giving Rikku ideas? Never!"

"Sorry to break up the…party… but we've arrived." Buddy said, looking at them. Kairi jumped forward and looked out at the planet below them.

"Arrived where?" She asked eagerly. Buddy paused.

"Uhh, I don't really know. This is just where the message originated from." He answered. Emma walked up beside Kairi.

'Oh, it looks so pretty down there! Let's go!" She suggested. Rikku grinned, nodding vigorously. Paine started walking towards the door. Sora looked down over the landscape for a moment and then followed Paine, along with Kairi, the pair in quiet conversation. Rikku grabbed Gippal by the hand and pulled him out after them. Baralai rolled his eyes at them and followed, Emma on his tail. They landed on a big farmer's field. Emma grinned.

"Ohhh, so this is where crop circles come from." She said, inspecting the design that the Celcius was pressing into the wheat field. There was a house not far from where they were.

"Let's go over there, maybe they can tell us where we are, and what that message was about." Kairi suggested. It seemed like a good idea, so they followed her to the small farm house. It was set in a circle of trees, a little ways back from a dirt road. Next to it was a small stable, where three horses were sleeping. There were no lights on in the house, despite it being night. The moon was just rising. Approaching the door, Baralai paused.

"Maybe no one's home?" He said quietly. "Or they might be asleep. Should we wake them?"

"It's not that late, the sun can't have set even two hours ago." Paine answered. Sora walked up the stone steps, onto the veranda, and knocked loudly. There was along pause, and then Gippal sighed loudly.

"No one's home." He decided. Emma crossed her arms.

"Maybe they're just asleep. Should we knock louder and try to wake them?" She asked. Kairi shook her head.

"No, we can go to another house. We don't want to wake these people up. I know none of us were very happy when we were woken up at such an awkward time today." She said, walking towards the road. There was another house and a barn a little farther down the road. This house didn't have any lights on either. Again, there was no answer. The next house was deserted too. Baralai sat down on the front steps, frowning. Sora crossed his arms, frowning as well.

"Okay, it's not that late, why is everyone asleep already?" He asked, frowning. There was a long silence, then Rikku gasped.

"Hey! Maybe they only come awake at night, and they're sleeping in!" She suggested. Paine rolled her eyes.

"Rikku, I've suddenly got an uncontrollable urge to hurt you." She said. Rikku yelped and grabbed Gippal, pushing him in between her and Paine. His eyes went wide and his expression was one of mock horror.

"Don't hurt me!" He said in an almost squeaky voice. Rikku snickered behind him. He turned around to face her and raised an eyebrow. "Laughing at me?" He asked. Rikku grinned up at him.

"Maybe." She answered slyly. "What are you gonna do about it?" She asked. Paine groaned, knowing that the pair of them were going to do something 'inappropriate'. Sora, however, grabbed everyone's attention by scrambling up the steps.

"Hey! Look at this!" He shouted, pulling a slip of paper out of the mail box. Everyone gathered around him to see what it was. "You are cordially invited to the King's Royal Gala this night. All citizens of the Kingdom are invited, in honour of the holiday. You and your family are invited to arrive at dusk. You are requested to bring an offering to honour to holiday, as usually expected. The palace will be most pleased to see you." He read. Rikku started jumping up and down.

"Oh! A party! A party!" She cried. "We should go!"

"But we weren't invited." Baralai answered.

"It says that everyone's invited on the invitation." Emma replied. There was a pause, where everyone looked at each other. Paine crossed her arms.

"We just have one problem. I don't think they'll be very happy to have us walk into their Royal Gala with our weapons, and I know I'm not leaving my sword behind." She stated. There was another long pause. The castle could be seen on the horizon, not that far away. Kairi crossed her arms.

"I'll go. My weapon can be disguised." She stated. Sora shook his head.

"No way. You can't go in there by yourself. What if something goes wrong?" He asked worriedly. She smiled slightly.

"Don't worry, nothing could go wrong. It's in the palace, there's bound to be an army of the king's guards around." She answered. He frowned.

"That's what I'm worried about. What if the king decides that you don't deserve to be alive anymore? There's no reason for any of us to risk going in there."

"Sure there is, we need to find out where we are, and what that message was about. If anything goes wrong, I'll let you guys know right away, I promise." She answered sincerely. Sora looked like he was at a loss. Paine shrugged.

"Don't worry, Kairi can take care of herself. And we'll be at the ready just in case, right?"

"And I'll go with her! I'll leave my weapons behind, I don't care." Rikku added.

"No way." Gippal replied flatly. Kairi shook her head.

"Gippal's right, you can't go without a weapon Rikku." She agreed. Sora frowned.

"I still don't think you should go by yourself." He said slowly. Kairi made a face at him.

"You worry too much. You've taken on much worse by yourself, I can deal with this." She answered. Sora nodded, still looking uncomfortable. Rikku giggled.

"Now we need to get you an outfit for the ball!" She announced, grabbing her by the arm and running back towards the Celcius, the others running after them.

…………………………………

Kairi walked into the Great Hall and froze, her breath temporarily gone. It had a huge vaulted ceiling, painted with intricate designs and images. The floor was smooth and marble, and brightly clothed people were everywhere. At the far end of the room was a stage, where a full orchestra was playing. On the right wall was a large velvet carpet and the thrones, though neither were occupied. The king and queen were easy to pick out, wearing their golden crowns. The left was covered in windows that rose to the ceiling, and smaller glass doors that led out onto balconies. Around the stage were the lords and ladies, brightly clothed and bejeweled. Around the outside of the room were the common people, their clothes just as bright, though less ornate, and having fewer jewels. In the center of the room, rich mingled with poor as couples danced. There were people serving drinks and food, and laughter was everywhere. Next to the thrones, on their side, were long tables. As people arrived, they brought carefully wrapped gifts to the table and left them there. Kairi wondered if those were the offerings that the invitation talked about. She was wearing a strapless dress that swept to the ground, in a silk material that matched her fan. She passed her eyes around the room and walked in, trying to find someone who looked like they might know anything about the garbled message. Shinra had finally managed to decode it, but he was sure he'd done it wrong because the words were all gibberish. Her eyes scanned the room again as she got closer to the stage. She caught sight of someone meandering through the crowds and her eyes went wide. _What's Sora doing in here? We agreed that I was coming here alone! He knows he can't bring his Keyblade in here!_ She thought. She pushed her way through the crowd towards him, angry that he'd followed her in here after everyone had said she should go alone. Once she caught sight of him again, relief flooded through her. It wasn't Sora. Though there was an uncanny resemblance, his hair was much darker, his skin was paler and his features slightly sharper. He was talking to a girl standing next to the stage towards the back. He was dressed in the uniform of the king's guard, though he didn't seem nearly as rigid as the other knights. Kairi smiled, watching them talk. She could see his attraction to her easily. She clearly wasn't a noblewoman, and was one of the poorer common people, wearing next to no jewelry and a dress that looked like it was made of cotton. The crowd began to quiet, and the orchestra had stopped playing. In front of the orchestra were the king and queen, looking ready to address their subjects.

"You know that the reason we are here tonight is to celebrate our patrons of destiny." The king spoke in a loud, booming voice. Applause sounded from the crowd. Kairi's mind went into a spin. _Patrons of destiny? He can't mean the Fates…can he?" _She wondered, biting her lip. He continued to speak. "However, we would also like to celebrate a new invention, created by our technological philosopher here at the palace." He started to clap as an older man walked up on stage with an armful of simple looking machinery. As it turned out, he had invented a simple radio, which it where the garbled message had come from. The reason the Celcius' computers couldn't decode it was because it was so simple that the computers couldn't make heads or tails of it. Shinra's voice came over the comm..

"We all know that I could build something ten times better in about five minutes, right?" He asked, sounding unimpressed. He had apparently been listening in as the man explained. His voice was followed by Paine's in the background.

"Shut up! You'll blow her cover!" She ordered. Kairi rolled her eyes and continued to watch, until a pair of hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her outside onto a balcony. She let out a quick gasp and pulled away from her attacker, snapping her fan open and trying to look like a terrified noblewoman. The element of surprise was always a plus in her books. When she got a clear look at her assailant, her eyes went wide and she almost dropped the fan.

"Namine!" She asked in surprise. Namine put her fingers to her lips.

"Hush! You have to leave, right now!" She whispered hurriedly.

"What? Why?" Kairi asked, confused. Namine looked both scared and worried at the same time.

"Because if they find out an outsider…" She stopped. There was applause inside. "Oh, I have to go, stay here. I'll be right back, and I'll explain then." She said, looking reluctant to leave Kairi any longer. She sighed and hurried back into the hall. Kairi slipped inside and turned her attention back to the stage, and was surprised to find Namine standing on it. There was a big wicker basket sitting in front of her. The king and queen were standing to one side.

"Now, we shall have performances to honour the holiday. First, we have Namine, performing her gift in song and charming." He announced, applauding. Namine nodded to him with a slight smile. Kairi wasn't paying much attention to the performance, she was more worried about why Namine was so desperate to have her leave. She was completely absorbed in her thoughts, until she convinced herself not to worry about it until Namine could explain herself. She looked up and thought for a moment she was dreaming, once she heard the song.

"Hold me,

Whatever lies beyond this morning

Is a little later on

Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all

Nothing's like before"

Then, everything clicked. Namine was like her. They were connected. They were both part Heartless, and their songs had strange powers. However, it seemed that while Kairi's singing manipulated people's emotions, Namine's manipulated the raw physical elements. Fire and water danced around her, every once in a while a snowflake would burst into fireworks, and then the falling embers were transform into flower petals that floated down over her audience. The performance, it seemed, would be cut short. There was a loud bang, and all the lighting went out. The room was lit only by the moonlight through the windows. Kairi looked around, trying to get her eyes to adjust to the darkness as quickly as possible. There was a loud thud at the doors. No one moved. There was another loud thud, and then the doors burst open. In came the most hideous creatures Kairi had ever seen in her life. A young man beside her seemed to recognize them.

"…fate beasts…" He murmured in horror. Kairi slipped into a corner, intent on remaining unseen. There were three men, two of whom had the heads of pigs, and the third, apparently the leader, with the head of a wolf. Each had what looked like a vicious dog covered in sharp scales on chain leashes. The wolf headed man kicked his creature.

"Find the outsider, mutt! And you might just be fed tonight." He barked. There was a series of clicks, the mutts' collars snapped open. The three things slunk forward, sniffing and growling. A number of ladies fainted. One of them started snarling, and ran at the stage. The other two looked up and followed it, barking viciously. The first one tried to jump on the stage at Namine, who was frozen in terror. Kairi held her breath. Luckily, the beast smashed into the stage, unable to jump that high. It fell, temporarily disoriented, but got back up again, barking and snarling. Namine didn't move, her fear written all over her face. The leader walked up to the stage, leering at Namine. One of the other two pig men drew a sword.

"Well missy, you're the outsider, are you? We all know how much the Ladies hate outsiders, don't we?" He asked mockingly. Kairi started to quietly make her way towards the stage. She had to do something. The other joined in mocking Namine, too.

"Do you know what that means, to be an outsider? Do you know what the Ladies' Laws say about outsiders?" He asked. Namine nodded, terrified and looking like she was about to cry.

"You're dead girly." The leader told her darkly. He signaled for his cronies to get her. She still didn't move. They scrambled onto the stage and started to approach her. She looked up at them, eyes wide. Then, someone stepped out of the shadows and held a sword out at them, standing between them and Namine.

"If you want her, you'll have to go through me first." He stated. Namine gasped.

"Kael!" She muttered in surprise. Kairi's eyes went wide. It was the knight who looked so much like Sora. And it had been Namine he was talking to before. Kairi snapped her fan open. In the silence, it seemed as loud as the sound of a bomb going off.

"No one's going to go through anyone." She stated, stepping up on to the stage. "Leave Namine out of this. I'm the outsider." She told them. The leader blinked at her.

"You are?" He asked, surprised that she'd step up. "You're willing to say I'm wrong in accusing her, and give your life instead?" He asked. Kairi didn't answer. She'd take the blame, but she wasn't planning on giving her life up, though she was tempted to take his. He frowned. "I'm never wrong, girl, but if that's the way you want it…" He glanced at his cronies. "Kill them. All three of them." He stated. The two pig-men cackled.

"Gladly, sir." With that, one of them sliced at Kael, who blocked the attack with his own sword. Seeing that his partner was keeping him busy, the second pig-man attacked Kael from behind. Kairi stepped in, her coil blade shooting out of the end of the fan and blocking the attack. The electricity raced down the blade and into the handle. The pig-man yelped and dropped the sword. Kael, meanwhile, was still locked in his fight. Getting to her feet, Namine began to hum quietly. A moment later, and seemingly without warning, the pig-man's clothes burst into flame. He screamed and started to run, tripping and falling off the stage. He scrambled to his feet and ran out onto one of the balconies, before collapsing and going tumbling over the banister down to the ground below. Kairi jabbed the tip of her coil blade into the stage, using it to vault over the wolf-man's head and on her feet behind him. The two watched each other intensely, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Behind the wolf, on the back of the stage, Kael and Namine were holding a chain they'd unhooked from the wall. Namine signaled for her to move, and Kael started to count down on his fingers. Kairi watched them over the wolf's shoulder. Once Kael reached one, Kairi jumped backwards, caught her balance and raced for the door. Behind her, the chandelier, which had been held up by the chain, dropped onto the wolfman. Kael grabbed Namine's hand and the two of them were on Kairi's heels and she ran out of the Great Hall into the entrance hall. The entire entrance hall was full of towering pillars, which was a good thing, because as the three of them came stumbling into the entrance hall, the doors swung open for ten more fatebeasts. They slipped into the shadows behind the pillars and watched the creatures walk past them into the Great Hall. Kairi's jaw dropped once she got a good look at the creatures. Two of them looked like albino men, with no faces other than eyes. She'd recognize a creature like that anywhere. It was one of them who took over Traverse Town.

"Those are shapeshifters." She whispered, half awed, half angry.

"Those are the most elite of the fatebeats. Whoever you are, you must be a real threat to the Ladies." Kael answered.

"Maybe. But they might just be mad because we've killed one of those before." She said indifferently.

"You did?" Namine asked in surprise. Kairi nodded.

"I'll tell you later. We have to get out of here before they realize we're not in the Great Hall anymore." She said, peeking out from behind the pillar at the door. Kael shook his head.

"We could meet more fatebeasts outside if we go that way." He said, carefully stepping out from behind the pillar and walking down the closest hallway. It was covered in doors on either side. Namine and Kairi followed him. "I think these are the guest chambers." He stated. The doors slammed open, and they could hear yelled from the entrance hall.

"Uh oh." Kairi muttered, looking further down the hallway. There were more fatebeasts coming from that direction. She kicked open a door and pulled the other two inside. Namine locked the door, and Kael grabbed the wardrobe and began to push it in front of the door. Kairi opened the window and looked outside, making a face.

"There's a moat right outside this window." Kael told her. Kairi sighed.

"I see that." She looked around, and noticed the thick ivy climbing the walls all around the window. "This might work." She noted, tugging on the plant. Wasn't her best idea in the world, but it would work for now. She pulled herself onto the window sill and grabbed hold of the vines. It worked surprisingly well. She started climbing up the wall, Namine and Kael following close behind her. They reached a wide balcony and climbed onto it. It was just outside the palace library. They stepped between the stacks of books, and Kairi paused.

"Hey guys?" She whispered. Namine and Kael looked at her for a moment before realizing that she wasn't talking to them. They watched her curiously, as Rikku's voice could be heard over the comm..

"What's up?"

"Remember the shapeshifter in Traverse Town?"

"Sure, why?"

"There're two of them here and they brought friends. I get the picture that the Fates don't want me here." She answered.

"That's bad. We're on our way. Where do we meet you?" Rikku asked. Kairi paused.

"The Great Hall." She answered finally. "See you guys there."

"What?" Namine looked horrified. "We can't go back there!" She cried. Kairi shrugged.

"That's the last place any of them will expect us to be heading, so it's the ideal place to go." She answered. Kael and Namine both paused for a long while, caught off-guard by the undeniable logic. Kael crossed his arms.

"Hmm, I'd say the safest way back to the Great Hall would be…" His voice trailed off as he planned out their route in his head. He nodded. "Okay, follow me." He turned around and started to walk through the library. The three of them tiptoed through the bookcases, an eerie silence enveloping them. They reached a door and Kael pushed it open a crack. He glanced down the hallway on the other side of the door to make sure no one was coming, and then looked back at the girls. "We're almost directly above the Great Hall here. If we cross the hall and go to the windows on the other side, the balconies should be right below." He told them. Namine bit her lip.

"How do we get down to them?" She asked. Kael smiled.

"This entire castle is covered in ivy, and I think we've all discovered what great ladders ivy makes." He answered, peeking out into the hall again. The three walked silently across the hall, pushing the door open with what sounded like a deafening creak in the quiet. They were in some sort of study, and, just as Kael said, there were large windows surrounded by ivy, with the balconies below. Kairi was the first to pull herself through the window and climb down. She made a face as her dress got caught in the ivy. _I want my normal clothes back._ She thought, annoyed. She dropped down onto the balcony. The Great Hall was still in darkness. She slipped inside silently, followed closely by Kael and Namine. With a flicker, the lights turned back on. Five shapeshifters, a handful of wolf-headed men and women and countless of the dog-like creatures were everywhere.

"…oops."


	16. The door

Within moments, Kairi, Namine and Kael were completely surrounded by the creatures. Kairi frowned.

"Sorry." She whispered. Namine shrugged.

"It made perfect sense to me, anyways. It could have been the same anywhere else you said to meet." She answered. "Besides, you're friend's on her way right?" She asked. Kairi smiled slightly.

"There's seven of us." She answered. Kael breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good news if I've ever heard it." He said. Kairi was about to speak again, when one of the wolf men snarled at them.

"What are you yapping about?" He demanded, pointing his sword at Kairi. Kairi glared at him.

"None of your business." She snapped in reply. His eyes narrowed.

"You should have more respect for someone with the means to kill you." He spat. Kairi snapped her fan open and began to fan herself, looking more or less like a damsel in distress.

"Oh dear, I suppose you're right." She said. The wolf man glared at her, not sure whether or not her tone was mocking or truly fearful. He looked at his comrade, a pig woman standing to his left, to see how she took Kairi's words. Kairi took the chance and pointed the open fan at them. A second later, the wolf man, pig woman and three others were on the ground with Kairi's now not-so-hidden knives protruding from them. She ran for the gap in the ring, Namine and Kael following her. They didn't get very far when a shapeshifter stepped in their path. Kairi skidded to a stop, surprised, as the other two almost ran into her from behind. The shapeshifter raised his fist. A gun shot sounded, along with the sound of smashing glass from high above them, and the shapeshifter collapsed. Kairi spun around and saw Gippal standing in the doorway, grinning almost arrogantly.

"Thought you might need some help there." He noted. Kairi smiled, nodding. A voice shouted down to them.

"It's his fault we took so long!" Rikku cried, jumping down from the window pane she had broken and landing square on the shoulders of another shapeshifter. It dropped under the force of her drop. Gippal frowned at her.

"Why is it _my_ fault?" He asked, shooting at a fate beast that was approaching him. Rikku had stepped off the creature she landed on and was fighting with another, not realizing that the first was still partially conscious. He was getting to his feet, but was down again thanks to a sharp whack in the head from Baralai. He leaned on his weapon, grinning at Gippal.

"It's your fault because you make a good scapegoat." He answered. One of the dog creatures leapt at Baralai, but Paine cut it out of the air, smirking.

"You know I can't always be around to take care of you Baralai." She stated, fighting off another fate beast. One saw the chance, with her busy, and started to attack her from behind, Luckily, Emma walked in and cut it down.

"And I can't always be around to take care of you." She stated. Paine finished off the monster she was fighting and gave Emma a death glare. Kairi, Namine and Kael were caught surrounded again, thought admittedly, the ring was much thinner. A black ball appeared about six feet off the ground, growing slightly and sucking a handful of the creatures that made up the ring into it, before dropping them to the ground again. One of them landed very badly, and wouldn't be getting back up again. The others attempted to stand up, but a quick burst of song from Namine sent two of them flying into the wall, while the other was attacked by Kael, Kairi and Sora at the same time. The creature dropped to the ground, leaving Kael and Sora face to face. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Woah." They said in unison.

"That's weird." Sora noted. Kael nodded, then blinked, looking at Kairi.

"That's like you and Namine! You two look the same too!" He stated. Sora scratched his head.

"Wait a minute, wasn't it someone named Namine that made you remember?" He asked.

"You two know Namine?" Kael asked. Kairi shook her head.

"Only I do." She answered. Kael and Sora both asked a question at the same time, neither understandable due to the girls trying to listen to both questions at the same time. Gippal cleared his throat.

"Can we talk later? There's more of these creatures on the way." He told them. Sora nodded.

"He's right, we have to get moving. The Celcius is outside the castle walls. We couldn't find anywhere to land inside." He agreed. With that, the group walked out into the entry hall, peeking out the front doors and slipped outside. Moving through the shadows, the group slowly but surely made their way down through the streets of the city contained within the castle walls. They hadn't gotten very far when Paine heard footsteps.

"Someone's coming." She stated. Each of them scrambled to find somewhere to hide. Rikku crouched behind some barrels just inside an alleyway. Paine, Baralai and Gippal hid in the shadows further down the same alley. Kairi and Namine hid in an arched entryway to a manor house. Sora and Kael hid in a similar place across the street, while Emma hid underneath a set of wooden stairs. Just as they had suspected, a number of fate beasts turned a corner and started to walk up the street towards the castle. There had to have been a dozen of them. Once they were sure that the pack was well out of sight and earshot, Emma peeked out of her hiding spot.

"I guess we'd better be careful." She noted quietly.

"You can say that again." Rikku answered with a frown. Paine gave them a look that quieted them, and the group slowly crept down the street. They barely went anywhere when they heard another set of footsteps approaching. Again, a pack of fatebeast passed while they hid, scarcely breathing. It happened twice more. The first time, they hid, just like they had. The second time, however, they were walking through the temple district. Thye could hear footsteps, and looked helplessly around. All that was around was tall, carved marble walls, the space between each temple barely big enough for a cat to fit into. Looking to Kael and Namine for help, they frowned.

"What do we do? These temples are all dedicated to the Ladies. They'll have more power over us in there than anywhere else, and the fatebeasts belong to them." Namine whispered hurriedly. Kael looked around, then let out a small gasp, grabbing Namine's hand, and starting to run back towards the way they came, motioning for the others to follow. Slightly bewildered, they did so. Not far behind them, at the beginning of the district, was a series of statues. Three women, very majestic looking. These statues, however, looked a little bit out of place. The whole street was lined with tall marble walls, but there was this one break in the marble, with these statues filling it. It looked rather asymmetrical, to say the least. Kael pulled himself up onto the base of one of the statues.

"Hurry, follow me." He walked around the statue and dropped down onto the ground in the space on the other side. Quickly, each of the others scrambled over the base of the statue, to the other side. Emma was the last over. She stepped just out of sight between the shadows as the group of fate beasts entered the temple district. Hidden behind the statues was a small courtyard. The cobblestones were nearly lifted out of the ground, it was so badly overgrown. On the other side of the tiny courtyard was a small temple, just as badly overgrown. The only sign of recent life was the fairly new boards that had been put across the entrance. Kael kicked it in.

"I discovered this place when I was little, when I saw some shapeshifters come in here. This is one of the old temples, from before the Ladies' arrivals here. The other old temples were torn down, but this one was left. Things kept going wrong when they tried to take it down, and then the Ladies' ordered that the temple be hidden, but left here. That all happened hundreds of years ago, but I was told about it when I was a page by my history tutor. He mysteriously disappeared two days after that. The fate beasts come here every few years. Who knows what they're looking for. But anyways, we can hide here until they pass." He stated. Kairi bit her lip.

"These Ladies…they're not the Fates are they?" She asked. Namine shrugged.

"They go by many names. Everyone hates them. They rule Pandora with an iron fist." She answered. Paine crossed her arms.

"Pandora?" She asked. "Isn't Pandora the girl with the box? The one who released all those negative things into the world?" She asked. Kairi sighed.

"And hope." She added.

"Those are the stories." Kael said. "But the legend isn't quite right. Pandora is the name of this planet. There is a box, though, and all the negative things came from it. See, the Fates were once just mortal witches. They gained a little bit too much power, and before they died, they built a box where they would be reincarnated as immortal goddesses."

"After that," Namine continued, "they rebuilt their box into a loom, where they weave destiny. They live on this planet, though no one knows where."

"I know how we can find out." Emma stated. They looked at her. She didn't say anything more. Instead, she walked over to the entrance and peered inside between the wooden boards. "I wonder what's in here? What could keep the Fates from demolishing it and then catch their interest enough to keep it?" She asked. All she could see inside was a corridor that faded into blackness not far it. It was certainly dark in there. She jumped when Paine came up beside her and kicked the wood. A few pieces collapsed and a small space opened.

"Let's find out." She said. She and Emma worked together to pull off the next piece. Sora grinned.

"Move over girls, I'll get us in." She stated. Paine looked at him, raised and eyebrow, and moved as he said. Emma followed suit. He lifted his Keyblade and shot a fireball at the wood. It burst into flames, though the fire settled after a few moments, all that was left of the wood being ashes. Kairi grinned.

"Very good." She said, linking arms with him. Sora grinned back at her.

"I'm glad you're impressed." He answered. Emma was peering inside again.

"Check it out?" She asked. Paine nodded, and the two girls led the way inside. They had expected to find some inner chamber with some sort of alter, as was the case in most temples. It certainly wasn't big enough to house much else. However, all they found was a set of stairs leading underground. Paine used her black magic to light a few torches, and they continued down the steps. At the bottom, they came into a huge underground chamber. The walls were smooth and covered in simple relief carvings. The room was entirely empty except for a large door on the other side of the cavern. It looked like it was made entirely out of silver. Rikku skipped up to the door, her torch casting flickering shadows everywhere. She grabbed the handle and pulled. It didn't move. She put down her torch and pulled harder. It still didn't budge. She struggled with it until Gippal came over, snickering.

"Want some help?" He asked. Rikku pouted at him. He grabbed the door handle and tugged, expecting that Rikku was just being Rikku, but it didn't move for him either. He pulled harder. It still didn't move. Rikku started laughing at him.

"Haha! You can't open it either." She stated. Kael walked over, rolling his eyes.

"That might be because it's locked." He told them. Gippal and Rikku both looked at him as if her were brilliant. He held his hand out, and what else but a Keyblade appeared in his hand. Kairi, Sora and Baralai all started talking at the same time, but they didn't even get a full syllable out of their mouths when Kael interrupted them. "Don't ask me where I got this from, I'll explain later." He stated. Sora walked up beside him, held his hand out and his Keyblade appeared in his hand, next to Kael's. Kael looked at him, his eyes wide. Sora shrugged. Kairi and Namine looked at each other.

"We're connected…" Namine started to say.

"Maybe they are too." Kairi finished. Sora turned around.

"Connected?" He asked. Kairi explained as best she could.

"You remember what happened when I remembered, right? I said I was falling, and I saw Namine. It's like she's my shadow or something. I think you and Kael are the same." She said matter-of-factly. Sora and Kael looked at each other.

"Oh." Neither of them understood what she was talking about, but both decided they'd talk about it later. The two of them held their Keyblades towards the door. A flicker from one of the torches revealed something to them. Hidden in the intricate carvings on the door were three images of a keyhole. Sora frowned.

"…three?" He asked. Everyone looked at each other. Emma swung her sword around. Sora propped his Keyblade on his shoulder. By chance, her sword lined up with his, and she gasped. Everyone looked at her. She was inspecting her blade carefully.

"I…think this is the third one." She noted. It was then that everyone suddenly realized the shape of the blade. Emma walked up to Sora and Kael, looked at the two of them, and pointed her blade at the door. The two guys did the same. A white fire started to glow in the center of each of the keyholes, spreading through the carvings until a new image was revealed. Heart and Soul intertwined, reaching for the door handles. Kairi and Namine looked at each other. They had a new suspicion about their connection.

"A princess of Heart."

"And a princess of Soul." The two girls smiled at each other and grabbed the door handles. The two of them pulled gently, the doors swinging open silently. Everything quieted. Rikku peeked inside.

"It's dark in there." She noted. Gippal looked inside after her.

"So, why did we open this door if it doesn't lead anywhere?" He asked, sounding unimpressed. A small smile crossed Emma's lips.

"Because it _does_ lead somewhere." She answered, walking forward. She walked through the door, just inside, and looked around. "Hello?" She called. There was a shuffle of movement from outside their view inside the door and Emma turned to see what it was. Her eyes passed through the darkness, and then she smiled. "We did it!" She said, running towards the sound. Paine poked her head inside, looking to see where she'd gone. She frowned.

"Who's that?" She asked. Before anyone could answer, Sora and Kairi had walked up to the door and looked inside. Both their jaws dropped.

---------------------------

Glancing towards the shuffling sound, Emma grinned. Riku was walking towards her, looking slightly confused. She took a step towards him.

"We did it!" She told him, before setting off at a run towards him. She hit him with such force that they both nearly fell over. She threw her arms around his neck and let out a quiet laugh. He smiled, one of his arms going around her waist while the other tilted her chin towards him.

"First, tell me you're not dreaming again." He said quietly. Emma smiled at him.

"I'm not dreaming." She answered. Riku nodded thoughtfully.

"Good." With that he closed the gap between them and kissed her. A pair of gasps caught their attention. Looking towards the door, they saw Kairi and Sora watching them, their eyes wide.

"…Riku?" They asked, their shock apparent. Riku smiled at them.

"Hey Sora, Kairi." He paused, not sure what to say. What can you say to your best friends after not seeing them for more than two years? "Umm…long time no see." He said slowly. Kairi grinned, walking slowly towards them. Once she reached them, she leaned towards Emma.

"We'll need to talk later." She whispered. Emma started to blush.

"I guess I never told you, but this is how I remembered." She answered. Sora grinned as he approached them.

"Riku! It's so great to finally see you again!" He said. Riku grinned back at him.

"I see you've been taking good care of Kairi." He noted. Sora crossed his arms.

"So, does this mean you can come with us?" He asked. There was a long silence.

"I hope so." Riku answered finally. Together, the five of them walked back to the door. Everyone else stared at Riku, partially because he was a random guy who just appeared from the darkness behind the door, and partially because he was hand in hand with Emma. Sora and Kairi walked back through the door. Emma followed, and turned around to face Riku. He paused, reaching uncertainly forward. It was as if he expected to find the doorway covered in glass. When his hand passed through, relief passed over his face. Emma paused.

"Hang on a sec." She looked at Riku. "Can we use the crystal to see the Fates?" She asked. Riku thought about it.

"I don't see why not. It's not that far from here…" He stopped, hearing a noise. There was a long silence, and then the thud from about them sounded again.

"Do you think someone else is coming in?" Baralai asked, peering up the stairs. Paine shrugged.

"If there is, we'd better find this crystal thing fast." She answered, glancing at Riku. "Where to, Riku?" She asked. Rikku's eyes went wide.

"Hey! My name's Rikku too!" She said, giggling. Gippal nodded.

"That's great, now let's get out of here before whatever's upstairs comes down."


	17. Girls will be girls

A cloudy image began to appear in the crystal, slowly becoming clearer. An image of three women appeared. They were old and dressed in old looking clothes. Certainly, they didn't look like all-powerful goddesses who amuse themselves by terrorizing the planet. They were in what looked like a huge hall, though where the hall was couldn't be said. There were no windows, or anything like a coat of arms. They were sitting on the floor, in a tight circle, speaking quickly in hushed tones. Between them was a loom, made of wood that glowed like gold. Watching them carefully, Emma spoke.

"That's the Fates then…" She murmured. Paine crossed her arms.

"They don't look very intimidating." She observed. Baralai sighed and then frowned.

"I guess it's like they say, things aren't always as they appear." He answered. Rikku looked at him, her head cocked slightly to the side.

"So that means that they look nice, but they act scary?" She asked. Gippal rolled his eyes.

"Yes, Rikku." He paused while she grinned at him. He shook his head. "You are unbelievably slow, you know that?" He noted. Rikku glared at him.

"I am not!" She cried. Gippal grinned at her.

"Yeh?" Without warning his hand snapped out, grabbed her by the wrist and, with a sharp tug, pulled her against him helplessly entwined in his arms. Rikku frowned.

"Lemme go!" She whined. Gippal smirked.

"You wouldn't be in this situation if you weren't so _slow_ to react…" He stated. Rikku pouted at him. Kael blinked, slightly surprised.

"Do they always act like this…?" He asked, watching them curiously. Paine crossed her arms and sighed.

"Oh yes." As she spoke, she elbowed Gippal in the side. He yelped in surprise, letting Rikku go. She grinned triumphantly and hid behind Kairi. Gippal frowned.

"Hey, what was that for?" He demanded. Paine glared at him.

"For being stupid. Be thankful it wasn't worse." She answered. Gippal glanced at Kael.

"Watch out for her. She's scary." He said. Kael nodded. Riku shook his head.

"Aren't we supposed to be _doing_ something?" He asked. Kairi nodded, grinning.

"That's right, the faster we get this Fate thing over, the faster all you can get back to flirting." She stated. Sora walked up behind her and grabbed her around the waist.

"Don't we get to flirt a little too?" He asked her quietly, pouting.

"Of course." She answered, grinning mischievously and running her fingers through his hair. He leaned forward and was about to kiss her when Paine cleared her throat. The two of them turned their attention back to the crystal, blushing, though found that it wasn't them whom Paine was annoyed with. Riku and Emma were apparently doing the same thing, because both of them had turned just as red. Kairi and Rikku looked at each other, saying silently, _we jump Emma and make her tell us everything when we get back to the Celcius._

They reached the ship, and were all standing on the bridge, except for Emma, Kairi and Rikku. They'd gone off somewhere, Emma being dragged rather forcibly by the other two, to do god knows what. Paine was lounging on Shinra's chair, having stolen it from the boy-genius while he was up doing something else. Shinra, in turn, was sitting quietly on the floor, glaring at Paine every once in a while. Baralai was eyeing the chair, seemingly looking for a chance to steal it off of Paine. Sora, Kael and Namine were sitting together on one side of said chair, one of the guys on either side of Namine, creating what looked like a slightly skewed mirror image. Gippal was standing with Baralai, looking bored, and Riku was staring at his surroundings, clearly impressed by the ship. Paine sighed.

"So, how are we going to find these Fates? That crystal thing only helped so much. Scratch that, not really at all." She said, sounding aggravated. Riku glared at her.

"At least it gives us _something_ to go on." He answered sharply.

"So what, now we comb the entire planet, looking for a cave, that's probably hidden by some crazy magic?" She asked. Riku's eyes narrowed.

"That's a great idea." He said sarcastically.

"Well what do you propose, oh brilliant one?" She shot back. Sora whacked his Keyblade on the floor.

"Stop fighting! You two are the two stubbornest people I know, so just agree to disagree and we'll get on with it!" He commanded.

"Stoubbornest's not a word." Riku observed after a long silence, smirking. Sora grinned back at him.

"Stubbornest, funnest, you know I could care less."

"Sora, you have a brain the size of a pea." Riku answered, laughing.

"Maybe, but that makes us two peas in a pod, doesn't it?" Sora asked, pushing himself to his feet. Riku grinned back at him.

"Ah, it'll be so nice when things can just go back to the way they were, spend the rest of your lives goofing off on the Islands just like we used to." He said, staring out into the dawn. There was a long silence, and Sora became suddenly interested in his feet. Riku looked at him, surprised by the silence. See Sora's upset expression, he frowned.

"Oh…the Islands are gone, aren't they…?" He asked quietly. Sora nodded slowly. "How did it happen?"

"It was disconnected from the Terminus." Sora answered slowly.

"…and I did it, didn't I?" Riku asked, bitterly. Sora looked up at him.

"No, it's not your fault. For all we know, it could have been me, I could have done something during the fight." He answered reassuringly.

"Like what?" There was a long silence. Riku shook his head. "See? It _is_ my fault."

"No, it was Ansem." Sora insisted.

"And Ansem was me!" Riku stated.

"Ansem possessed you! You couldn't have done anything about it!" Sora argued.

"You don't get it Sora! You're a good kid, I'm not. Maleficent found me, and I _agreed_ to join her. The first time we fought, I was still _me_. I was doing it of my own free will." He said. Sora blinked. He hadn't been aware of that. Riku crossed his arms, looking rather shaken up. "I'm sorry."

"Maleficent…she messed with your mind I thought…" Sora started to say, fumbling with his thoughts. Riku sighed.

"She did, kind of. I thought I was protecting Kairi."

"Then you're not a bad kid either." Sora said resolutely.

"So what, you're okay with what happened? Just like that?" Riku asked, sounding surprised.

"Riku, I've been okay with it since…I dunno, since you helped me close Kingdom Hearts." Sora answered with a goofy grin. Riku grinned back at him.

"That's good." He paused, hearing a noise. Kairi, Emma and Rikku came racing onto the bridge. They ran past Riku and Sora, Riku grabbed Emma by the arm and looked at her questioningly. She giggle.

"Hi." She planted a quick kiss on his lips. "Bye. We needa talk to Namine." She said. The other two girls and grabbed Namine by the hands and were leading the bewildered girl back towards the elevator. Emma grinned and bounded after them. Riku blinked. He looked like he was going to say something to Sora, but his attention was drawn to the ship's sudden lurching movement. The Celcius was lifting off the ground and flying away. "Where are we going?" He asked. Everyone else looked like they were wondering the same thing. Shinra walked around the bridge, hands folded behind his back like a little army general.

"You have me to thank for this." He said. "I have slightly altered the radar to pick up on unnatural divine activity." He stated. Gippal blinked.

"You can do that?" He asked incredulously. Shinra nodded.

"I can do that. As we speak the Celcius is homing in on the strongest divine activity within range."

"Oh. Cool."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Kairi and Rikku ran up the stairs in the cabin, dragging Emma up behind them.

"Hey!" She protested, grinning. Kairi grinned back at her.

"Oh no, you can't get away from us this time!" She stated with a grin. Emma flopped down on the bed.

"Okay okay, what do you guys want?" She asked. Rikku gave her a look.

"Come on, spill." She demanded.

"We wanna know all the juicy details." Kairi added. Emma blushed a little.

"Umm, okay. The first time I dreamt myself into the darkness was the night that I ended up in Fa'Diel with you guys. That's when I first met Riku."

"Okay skip that!" Rikku said with a grin. "We said juicy details. That's the stuff you already told us about." She said. Emma grinned back at her.

"Okay okay. So after we ended up at the university, I dreamt myself into the darkness, just about every night. Every time I woke up though, I kept forgetting…"

The girls talked for a good while, giggling like little girls at a slumber party. After Emma had finished her story, they each lay down on one of the beds and looked at each other.

"So what do we do now?" Kairi asked. Then she sat up and grinned. "Hey, let's get Namine!" She suggested. Both the others gave her a strange look.

"…why?"

"Because she's got that connection to me right? And Kael has a connection to Sora, right?" She said. Emma sat up really fast.

"And you've been in love with Sora for how long?" She asked with a grin. Rikku giggled.

"Oh, so that means Namine's probably got a thing for Kael?"

"Most definitely." Kairi answered. "Besides, I saw them at the ball. It's obvious Kael at least likes her." She stated. With that, the three of them dashed down the stairs and into the elevator. They returned again a few minutes later with a very confused Namine. Sitting her down on one of the bed, Rikku grinned at her.

"So, let's get straight to the point. When are you going to make your move on Kael?" She asked. Namine turned red.

"What?"

The girl talk continued for a long time, and it took them quite a while for the three other girls to get anything out of Namine.

"I can't say anything." She decided.

"Why not?" Kairi asked, surprised. "I mean, he practically offered to die for you at the ball. He might as well have said 'I love Namine' instead of 'You'll have to go through me first.' It meant the same thing."

"No it didn't, it's not right."

"How not?" Emma asked. All the girls were watching Namine, totally confused.

"See, he's a knight. He's from one of the most wealthy families in this kingdom. My dad was an assistant at the stable at his manor. He could have any girl he wants."

"Aww! It's like Aladdin!" Kairi said with starry eyes. "That's so romantic. You even grew up together."

"Grew up together? I was the stable boy's daughter and he was the heir. Ha. Grow up together." Namine said with a sigh. Kairi rolled her eyes.

"So? I can't imagine him having anyone else to play with when he was a kid." She answered. Namine blew a piece of hair out of her face.

"There were always kids around. The merchants' kids."

"Maybe, but they never stuck around, did they? I still say you were probably the only friend he had at the manor." Kairi argued. Namine sighed again.

"I guess, but even so, it's not right. He's like the highest of the high class and I'm the lowest of the low." She replied. Rikku crossed her arms.

"Big deal. I'm supposed to be the princess of the Al Bhed, and Gippal was orphaned when he was five. He never had any money, he joined the Crimson Squad which meant working with the same people who were outcasting us, and my dad always hated him." She said. Kairi grinned.

"But you always hated him too." She answered. Both Namine and Emma looked at her in surprise. Kairi's grin widened. "We were fighting a Chocobo Eater and Gippal fell off a cliff. Rikku went after him. Before the fight they hated each other, and when we found them at the bottom of the cliff, they were making out at the side of the road." She explained, giggling.

"We were not!" Rikku argued heatedly, whacking Kairi with a pillow. They all burst into fits of laughter. The ship pulled to a quick stop, throwing all of them off the bed they were sitting on. They looked at each other. None of them had even noticed that it had begun to move. Someone cleared their throat and they looked to the top of the stairs. Baralai was standing there, watching them.

"Girls. I'll never understand." He decided. Emma laughed.

"That's okay, we don't understand ourselves half the time."


	18. Fate or Destiny?

The four girls and Baralai came back to the bridge. Rikku looked around.

"So what's goin' down?" She asked. Paine looked out to the monstrous mountain looming above them. The ship was stopped at its foot.

"We may have found the Fates." She answered. Rikku took a step forward.

"Ohhh really? How are we gonna get in there?" She paused. "Hey, I thought that they'd be in some kind of castle or something. I mean, what kind of self-respecting goddesses live in a dingy old cave in some random mountains?" She asked. Paine rolled her eyes.

"That's really not the issue. The point is, we think they're here, and we need to find them so we need to get going." She stated. Rikku made a face.

"I still say there's something fishy going on here." She announced. Kairi sighed.

"Even if this is most likely where the Fates are, I'd say that I'd have to agree with Rikku. There's something weird. If they can have those massive temples erected for them in the city, why would they subject themselves to a crappy cave in the mountains?" There was a long silence. Kael nodded.

"I've always pictured the Fates as living in some lavish castle, with millions of slaves and things. Not here." He said.

"Something's weird, so I guess we just have to be careful. Otherwise, we still need to check this place out." Riku stated finally. That was it, and everyone was in agreement, so the ten of them left the ship and looked up at the ominous looking mountains. All around, as far as the eye could see was wet, muddy grass covering round hills, expect for where a single set of three mountains towered above them. The grass got thinner and thinner, until the ground became completely bedrock. All sides of the mountains were sheer cliff for a good thirty feet above them, broken only by a crevasse. Emma peered inside.

"Looks like that's our way in." She said. As she spoke, a gust of wind howled through it and threw her backwards into Kairi, Sora and Riku, all of whom had to scramble to catch her without falling over themselves. Riku watched the opening in the rock carefully.

"Like I said, we'll have to be careful." Cautiously, they started through the crack in the rock. It was massive, with only a thin strip of sky above them as their light source. The silence was complete, broken only by the scuffing of shoes and a pebble or two skittering across the ground or down the sides. Just when it began to look like the strip of sky would disappear completely, they came to an almost perfectly round opening in the wall, a cave with a pair of torches glowing with white fire on either side of the doorway. There was a rough engraving over it, looking like it had been chipped hastily out of the rock, and then the wind had smoothed the rough cuts. It looked like a title, but it was written in a dead language none of them could read. Paine tapped the engraving with the tip of her sword.

"Looks like this is the place." She stated, taking a torch. Sora grabbed the other torch, and they started the long trek into the heart of the mountain. They seemed to walk forever, following a twisting pathway that was the only course. There were the occasional breaks in the pathway, but these only led to small caves covered in stalactites and stalagmites, no other tunnels. It got hotter and damper the deeper into the mountain they went. Finally, the tunnel grew bigger and there were more torches, lining the walls for as far as they could see. Paine and Sora put down their torches. Everyone was on edge and quiet. The silence was making everyone even more nervous, so Rikku decided to break it.

"It's really hot in here, and muggy too." She noted. No one said anything. It was strange though. The only explanation for the heat was the torches, but Sora and Paine had discovered that the fire was cool, and even then, the torches would have drawn all the water out of the air and the air would be dry, not heavy with moisture. Gippal sighed.

"Who knows, maybe the Fates like it this way." He said, sounding weary. Baralai hushed them.

"Look." He whispered. Ahead of them, contrasting against the light grey of the stone and the flickering light of the torches was a door, totally and completely black. They might had guessed that it was only an opening in the tunnel, since there was just about no way to see even the surface of the door, except for the gold door knob right in the middle of it, reflecting the light of the torches to make a strange golden glow on the walls around it. They came to a stop in front of it, and no one did anything. Kairi, Sora, Emma, Riku, Rikku, Gippal, Paine and Baralai wanted the door to stay closed, for fear of what they might find on the other side. They knew what had happened last time they fought a goddess, and that was only one. This time, it'd be three. Kael and Namine, on the other hand, didn't have many reservations but did have a lot of anger towards the three deities they knew were waiting for them. Together, they grabbed the door knob and pulled. It swung open, but only with a strained effort from the pair. Inside was a small room lit only with four torches, two on either side of the door they stood at and two on either side of the opening on the other side of the room. These torches shone with the gold light of normal fire. In the center of the room was a small pedestal. All around it were what was left of ancient offerings. It was clear that no one had been here in a long while. The air in this room was cool, and the gust that issued into the muggy tunnel was welcome. On the contrary to what they thought, however, the Fates were not there. Beyond the other opening, however, was light and the sound of voices. The group tip-toed across the room. As they approached the other opening, they noticed some kind of force-field covering it. It would have been invisible, except for the occasional ripple in the air that went from the center outward. Riku tapped it. A stronger ripple went out where he touched it, but it didn't hold him back. He looked at the others.

"It's probably there to keep whoever's in there in, not everyone else out." He stated. Emma crossed her arms.

"So then those aren't the Fates?" She asked, sounding totally confused as she pointed to the figures visible inside. There were three old, haggard looking ladies in the center of the room, huddled together and whispering.

"Aren't those the same women we saw in that crystal though?" Namine asked apprehensively. Sora nodded.

"As far as I can see they are, but why would the Fates lock themselves in a cave?" He wondered aloud. His voice attracted the attention of the old woman sitting closest, and she turned a little, her eyes searching through the darker room. She spotted Gippal and let out a gasp. The other two looked up.

"It's them!" She whispered hurriedly. "They've finally arrived!" As she spoke, she stood up and hobbled over to the entrance. "Oh thank goodness! We've been waiting for you!" She stated. Riku, who had been standing closest to the field, took a step back. Rikku narrowed her eyes at the woman.

"That's right, you've been waiting for us to come so you could get rid of us." She answered.

"You've been waiting to finally be rid of the only threat to your power." Paine agreed, keeping a sharp eye on the women. The lady was taken aback.

"I'm sorry? Get rid of you? Oh dear me, no. We need you to help us." She answered. Riku crossed his arms.

"Liar. We know the prophesy." He stated. The woman glared back at him, her eyes just as intense as his.

"Then you would know that you must destroy one Fate, not three." She answered sharply. There was a long silence. It was true, but maybe she was just playing with words? How were they to know that they weren't the ones who wrote that prophesy, purposely miss-worded, so that they could earn the trust of the group? The other two Fates had hobbled over to the door. The oldest looking one, whose scraggly grey hair was thinner than the other two had, beckoned to them.

"Come in, the door only keeps _us_ in. You can move freely through it." She said, her voice sounding as frail as she looked. Kairi took a step forward, looking like she had trust in the woman. The rest of them gaped openly at her.

"What? You know I can just tell these things, like increased intuition or something. I trust her." She stated, taking another step forward.

"You can't trust your intuition only with something like this." Paine warned. Kairi turned around to face her.

"You can't, but I can. Do you really think I would have suggested anything about what you were doing with Baralai in Luca if I hadn't been sure that it was true? I know as well as anyone else that if I'd been wrong you would have chopped my head off in no time flat." She answered smoothly. Paine turned red and crossed her arms, muttering.

"Fine, but I won't be happy if you get yourself caught in there with all three of them to deal with and I have to come save you." Kairi smiled.

"Don't you worry about a thing Painey." She answered brightly. With that, she turned back to the doorway and stepped through. She paused, once on the other side, and looked behind her. Flashing her friends a smile, she stepped backwards, back out of the room again. Rikku grinned.

"Yay! See I knew Kairi was right aaaaaall alooooong." She announced, flouncing through the doorway with a giggle. Gippal rolled his eyes.

"I'm sure you did my meddma bnehlacc, I really believe you." He told her sarcastically, following her. She glared at him and stuck her tongue out. Kael and Namine looked at each other, and then at Paine and Baralai.

"What's a medma benelack?" Namine asked, trying to say the words. Paine took a second to keep from laughing at her mispronunciations.

"It means little princess." She answered. Namine grinned, having a little bit of an understanding as to what it meant. Her mind went back to the conversation on the airship and teasing Rikku. Her smile widened. Then, she remembered what the girls had brought her to the cabin to talk about in the first place and fought a blush, walking into the Fate's room. The lady with the scraggly hair smiled kindly at her. The woman took her by the arm and led her to the center of the room where the others were being invited to sit. As they walked, she woman leaned towards her to whisper.

"Don't you worry about that boy. Everything will turn out just fine." The woman let out a short laugh and motioned for everyone else to come over and sit. Namine, taking a seat next to Kairi, blinked up at the woman, surprised, and then blushed harder. It was really awkward being around these women who knew everything about her when she didn't even know if they were friends or enemies anymore. Kairi nudged her.

"What did she say to you?" She asked quietly. Namine became very suddenly interested in her lap, as she looked down.

"Ummm…I'll tell you later." She answered quickly. Kairi smiled a little.

"Come on…" She begged. Kael sat down on the other side of Namine.

"What did the Fate want?" He asked. Namine blushed even harder.

"N-nothing." She answered her voice wavering. Kael looked worried.

"Is something wrong?" He asked quietly. Namine shook her head furiously and Kairi snickered, catching on. Namine glared at her, and then leaned towards her.

"She told me not to worry about him and that everything will turn out. Okay? Happy?" She whispered furiously into her near-twin's ear. Kairi nodded, grinning ear to ear.

"Very." She answered matter-of-factly. "And you should be too." She stated as an after-thought.

"She should be what?" Kael asked curiously. Kairi grinned evilly. Namine looked horrified, her eyes pleading with Kairi not to tell.

"Well, seee….I should tell you, but I won't because I think Namine will sing something bad about me and light me on fire if I did." She answered. Kael opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again, confused. Kairi giggled. Namine's face was red as a tomato. Gippal elbowed Kairi in the side and Kairi spun around, rubbing her ribs. He glowered at her.

"How can you be so relaxed? We're at the disadvantage here, in a room with three enemy goddesses!" He hissed. Kairi crossed her arms.

"You should relax some too, Gippal. I trust them." She answered knowingly.

"How can you trust them!" Gippal asked, sounding both surprised and infuriated.

"Do they seem evil and intimidating to you?" She asked. He groaned.

"Come on, you should know as well as anyone that looks can be deceiving!"

"Everyone says that, but I've never actually seen that. I mean, all the Heartless were pretty evil looking. So are fiends. So was Maleficent and Ansem. So was the Heartless Goddess. So was Drakonis. Shall I continue?" She watched him, waiting for an answer. Gippal glared at her.

"What about that Cid guy, and Yuffie? Neither of them looked very intimidating, but look how that turned out." He said after a long pause.

"Maybe, but guess who it was who figured out that Yuffie wasn't really Yuffie? Me, remember?" Kairi replied coolly. "I trust them." She stated.

"And so you should." One of the Fates stated, walking over and taking her place in the ring of people around the loom. "It was we, after all, who reunited you with the Keyblade Master. It was also we who made it so your possessed friend would be born with a will so strong that he would be able to fight the darkness. It was we who gave the dreamer her power to take her to you and allow the Mana Sword to save you from death. And it was we who did countless other things to allow you to come here." As she spoke, the other two had also taken a seat. The three of them looked mournfully at their loom. All eyes followed and settled on the golden loom. Only now did they notice that there was only a partly finished weaving on it, and that all the threads hung loosely at the end, shredded and tattered. The second Fate spoke now, her voice quiet and sad.

"About six hundred years ago now, we were known to the people of Pandora as the Sisters of Destiny. That is our proper name. We foresaw our own downfall; our mother, Lady Fate, would claim her power from us. She abused her divinity by enslaving the creatures who worshipped her, so we overthrew her and imprisoned her. The High Court of the Gods demanded to know what would keep us from abusing our power just as she had, but there were three of us, so no one of us could abuse our power without the other two putting a stop to it. Once we foresaw her escape, we realized that we could not stop her, so in our last years, we wove all the worlds' destinies to point to one event; your battle with the Lady Fate. Every event in the past four hundred years has pointed to it. As we expected, she escaped and came to us, cutting away at the threads on out loom and therefore taking our power from us. She could not, however, destroy what was already woven. Knowing this, we drew your threads out of the weaving, having you destroy the destinies that tied you to the darkness, and then carefully wove everything else to point you to this planet and to this place." She explained. There was a long silence.

"So…are we going to win?" Rikku asked finally. The youngest looking Sister of Destiny, the one with the hollow cheeks, shook her head.

"We don't know. We can not weave the destiny of the gods, so we cannot weave our mother's downfall. Neither can we weave your victory, because we had to cut your threads early in order to give you any chance of survival fighting Lady Fate." She answered. Kael frowned.

"Wait, you said you'd never abuse your powers because there were three of you, but Pandora has been ruled by you for hundreds of years, and cruelly so." He accused, his eyes flashing. The Sister with scraggly hair sighed.

"No, no, we haven't been in power for four hundred years. Our mother has been the one abusing her worshippers. You worship the Fates, or more accurately, the Fate. Not the Destinies." She answered. Sora scratched his head, confused.

"So, there's a difference between fate and destiny?" He asked. All three of them nodded.

"There's an enormous difference. It's not chance that you were raised on the Destiny Islands. In fact, there were twin Islands to the ones you were raised on, called the Fate Islands. It, however, was one of the first to be destroyed by the Heartless. Its patron goddess, the lady of Fate, did nothing. We, however, used all the powers left within us to ensure the safe reconstruction of your home. That was the last thing we wove into the destinies of the worlds before we were locked away." She looked like she was going to say more, but there was a loud rumbling.

"Oh dear…" The oldest one murmured. "It looks like Lady Fate has discovered that you are here much earlier that we had anticipated." She stated, standing up and motioning towards the door. The ceiling was beginning to crumble. "Run! Now!" She ordered. The group stood and dashed towards the door. Namine skidded to a stop.

"What about you? Will you be alright?"

"We'll be fine dear." The Sister with scraggly hair told her. "What's important now is that all of you get out of here safely." She answered, nudging Namine towards the exit. Kael came back for her, taking her by the hand.

"Let's go! The cave's collapsing!"


	19. Interesting conversation

Stumbling out of the crevasse and onto the grass, Namine, skidded to a stop, sighing. She turned around to see the others coming out behind her. Before she knew what was happening, Kael had her by the arm and tugged her backwards, towards the ship.

"Come on!" Not expecting that, she tilted off balance and stumbled, falling over. Kael tried to hold her up and keep going, but only succeeded in falling down with her. Both of them tumbled across the ground, ending up in a tangled knot together. Spitting grass out of her mouth and looking disgusted, Namine looked up on time to see the crevasse collapsing and Paine and Baralai, the last two out, sweeping past them to get a safe distance away. Desperately, Kael and Namine tried to get to their feet, but to no avail. They were barely able to untangle themselves when there was a loud crash and a cloud of dust passed over them. Kairi bit her lip.

"Look out!" Even as she spoke, she knew her warning wasn't going to do them any good. The pair disappeared completely in the thick cloud kicked up by the one side of the cave collapsing. Kairi looked to Sora, worried, though found no comfort because he looked just as anxious as she felt. There was a long silence as the group waited impatiently for the cloud of dust to clear. When it finally did, they all let out a sigh of relief, seeing that Kael and Namine were both okay. Emma made a funny hiccupping sound. Kairi, covering her mouth to muffle her giggle, looked at her and had to try even harder to keep from laughing at the look on Emma's face. Rikku made a funny coughing sound to cover her laughter. Everyone was trying to keep from laughing. Namine and Kael were curled up on the ground, covered in a thin layer of fine dust and clinging to each other for dear life. Paine cleared her throat and Namine opened her eyes slightly.

"Is it safe?" She asked meekly. Riku kicked a stone, grinning.

"It's fine." He answered. His voice sounded choked in his attempt to keep his composure. Emma giggled, and immediately both Kael and Namine realized that they were still holding tightly onto each other. Instantly, they both let go, getting to their feet and starting to wipe off the dust. Namine shook her hair, creating a little cloud of dust around her head. Kael, meanwhile, was staring at the pile of boulders that was all that was left of the crevasse. Namine blinked at him.

"Umm, what are you looking at?" She asked slowly. He didn't answer; instead he walked up to the pile of rubble and inspected it

"I think I just found the problem." He said after a long moment. Immediately everyone gathered around him and whatever it was that he was looking at. A few of the larger stones, partially buried, had black char marks on them. The shape of the black markings and the unmistakable smell of fire would have told anyone what had happened. Gippal snorted.

"Pure chance that the explosives did that much damage. They were crude and not nearly as powerful as the stuff Nhadala's got at Bikanel." He stated. Emma was going to ask how he could tell that from looking at charred rocks but Rikku spoke first.

"I think the stuff Shinra has stored on the ship could have done worse, and believe me, what he's got ain't that impressive." She said, agreeing with Gippal. Paine started.

"Wait, Shinra's got explosives stored on the ship!" She asked. Rikku nodded, scrunching her nose. Paine crossed her arms, letting out a long breath. "It's not that I don't trust Shinra. For a kid, he knows what he's doing. It's the fact that it's within Brother's reach that worries me." She spoke slowly, almost mumbling. Rikku laughed.

"Brother? Get his hands on Shinra's DHT? Puh-lease. Me and Gippal tried to break into the stores a while ago, but we set off one of his zillion alarms in the first 30 seconds." She answered. Paine looked a little bit more relieved. Gippal grinned.

"It was you who set off the alarm." He stated casually. Rikku, hands on her hips, glared at him.

"Excuse me? You were the one who cut the wrong wire in the lock box." She accused.

"Yah, but the alarm didn't go off until _you_ tried to put it back together again." He answered smugly. Rikku frowned.

"It had to be put back together again for the lock over-ride to work, and if you hadn't cut it in the first place…" She started. Emma cleared her throat. They all looked at her.

"You can finish you're argument later if you want, but we should probably get out of here before whoever planted the bomb gets back to finish the job." She suggested. Rikku elbowed Gippal.

"And we _will_ finish this later." She told him threateningly. He rolled his eyes.

"Uh-huh." He sounded like he wasn't even listening. Rikku growled at him, her eyes narrowing. Gippal smirked and swept her into a sweet, deep kiss. Afterwards, she looked slightly dazed and stumbled a little, dizzy. Linking arms with him, she smiled dreamily.

"Consider yourself forgiven." She said, her voice whispery. Gippal grinned and wrapped an arm around her waist, and the two of them walked back to the ship together. Both Namine and Kael watched the couple in shock. They still weren't used to the strange way they acted when they were together. Kael looked like he was trying to say something but couldn't find the words. Namine bit her lip, trying to keep from laughing at his expression. Kael raised an eyebrow at her.

"Are you laughing at me?" He asked. Namine snickered and smiled slyly.

"No. I did a good job stopping myself from laughing." She said proudly. "Besides, I was laughing more at Rikku and Gippal than I was at you." He paused, grinning, then added, "even if you are really funny looking." She giggled. Kael pouted.

"Come on, I look a lot better now that I've had my mole removed." He answered, smirking. Namine burst out laughing. Paine looked mildly horrified. Kael grinned at her.

"It was a joke." He said. Paine nodded.

"I knew that." She said airily. Baralai grinned.

"You know Paine, getting a joke requires you to have a sense of humor." He said. She glared at him.

"I have a sense of humor!" She replied, angry.

"I was joking. But you definitely just proved my point." He said, grinning triumphantly. Paine growled at him, and he pulled her into a kiss. She looked thoughtful for a moment afterwards, and then shook her head.

"I'm not Rikku you know. It's going to take a lot more than just one kiss…" She began, though, hearing this, Baralai cut her off with another kiss. He grinned sheepishly.

"Is two kisses enough?" He asked quietly. Paine sighed, and then didn't answer. Emma stifled a laugh.

"Not if it means you'll kiss her again." She said to Baralai. Baralai grinned at her and Paine glared at her. She squeaked, seeing the death glare Paine was shooting her way. Riku grinned.

"I think it's time we got on the ship, don't you think Emma?" He asked, taking her by the hand. Emma nodded vigorously and the two of them walked away, towards the Celsius, with her glancing back every few moments, paranoid about Paine, who was still shooting death glares at her. Baralai sighed.

"You know that Emma won't come anywhere near you for a week or so now, right?" He asked, sounding almost as if he was scolding her. Paine smirked.

"Maybe she should get a sense of humor. After all, I was just joking." She paused, but when no one else said anything, she spoke again. "Well, Emma was right about one thing anyways. We need to get back on the ship sooner than later." With that, she started towards the ship. Kairi immediately followed. Sora raised an eyebrow at her in a silent question. She smiled coyly.

"I know Paine said she was just joking, but you never can tell with her. I'm going to make sure that she doesn't try to chop anyone's head off. It seems she's in one of those moods." She answered. Sora grinned at her and followed, grabbing Baralai by the arm and pulling him along.

"Come on Baralai, she's your girlfriend, _you_ talk some sense into her." He said. Baralai frowned.

"But I'm the prime victim!" He complained. Kairi shrugged.

"And that's your own fault." She told him plainly. As they got on the ship, Kairi turned around and shot a subtle wink at Namine. The twin girl saw it and didn't quite understand until she realized that she and Kael were the only two left outside. She then proceeded to blush like a tomato. Kael looked at her, slightly confused.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a moment. Namine started and looked at him, blushing even more.

"I'm fine." She answered, sounding almost choked. Kael watched her for another moment and then shook his head, walking over to her.

"No you're not, you're flushed. Are you feeling okay?" He asked, sounding worried.

"I'm fine, really!" She said, sounding overly bright. Kael crossed his arms.

"You're face is bright red." He told her. She grinned, trying to sound natural.

"I know!" She said. Afterwards, she realized that it was a stupid thing to say. Kael raised his eyebrows.

"You know…?" He asked slowly, grinning. "Do tell me what's embarrassing you so."

"I never said I was embarrassed." She accused. He shook his head.

"You're right, but you're blushing harder than I've ever seen you blush in my life before." He said simply. Namine paused, looking for a way to avoid answering the question.

"How do you know I'm blushing? How do you know that I'm not sick or something?" She asked, cringing as the last words came out of her mouth. He scratched his head.

"You just told me you weren't sick." He said slowly. Namine made a face.

"I know. I just realized now that it was a dumb thing to say." She admitted. Kael started laughing. She pouted. Her eyes went big and round as she gave him her best puppy dog face. His eyes settled on her and he just watched her smiling slightly. She blushed a little again.

"What?" She asked after a moment, feeling very self-conscious. He blinked, laughing awkwardly and dropping his eyes.

"Sorry, it's just you're…" He paused, turning red and not continuing. Her mouth quirked into a smile.

"I'm what?" She asked, curious. He grinned, still feeling awkward.

"Nothing." He said quickly. She pouted at him again.

"Please?" She asked quietly, fluttering her eyelashes. She grinned. He smiled back at her, amused.

"Do you remember the time I stole my sister's dress for you so you could come to my birthday party?" He asked. Namine started to laugh.

"They were all quite angry, I remember. Your parents, your sister…Taniki." Her wide smile faded a little. Taniki was a girl a year younger than they were that lived near Kael's summer home, who had been promised to Kael since they were little. Kael was the type of person who would be kind to anyone, even if he didn't like them. Taniki, however, he was often short and approaching rude with her. The only reason he didn't often yell at her was because it had been drilled into his head from the time he was born that politeness was of the utmost importance. Namine, however, didn't know this because Taniki constantly shooed her away. Kael shook his head.

"You know, seeing how angry Taniki got was almost worth the all the scolding." He said. Namine blinked, surprised.

"I'm sorry?" She asked. He smiled sheepishly.

"I don't often say things about people behind their backs, which is why I haven't told you this, but if there's anyone in the world that I hate, it's her." He admitted.

"Haven't you told your father? He'd call the engagement off, you know." She said quickly. Kael nodded.

"I've told him, but he says that I need to give her a chance. We were supposed to be married last year, but as soon as I found out I made plans to go to the capital to become a knight for the King's Guard." He said. Namine laughed. She calmed down a little and watched him curiously.

"I never realized that you disliked her that much." She said. Kael looked surprised.

"You didn't?" He asked. She shook her head. He shrugged. "Well, you know now, I guess." He said slowly. His eyes settled on her once again, and she smiled slightly, blushing again.

"Why do you keep looking at me like that?" She asked quietly, nearly giggling. Kael didn't realize what he was saying until it was already out of his mouth.

"You're really beautiful." He said, proceeding to turned as red as a tomato. Namine blinked, surprised, and then smiled bashfully. There was a quick silence and she nearly expected to hear Rikku or Kairi or Emma come running up behind her and yell at her to hurry up and go for it. She looked up and him and was greatly tempted to 'go for it', but having just spoken about Taniki… Namine had gotten her self wrapped up in her thoughts so quickly that she hadn't noticed how much his expression reflected her own. He, however, noticed the look on her face that perfectly mirrored what he was feeling, took a deep breath, leaning forward slightly and touched his lips to hers. Instantly she was pulled back to reality, and before she could stop herself, she let out a little gasp of surprise. Immediately Kael pulled away, silently scolding himself for being so stupid. _I knew how unlikely it was that she felt that way about me, and even if she did, I should have known that she'd have enough respect for my parents' wishes to know that everyone would say it was wrong. Even if I couldn't care less about what my parents want. _When he looked at her, though, he realized that he may not have been as stupid as he thought. She was staring off into the distance, chewing her lip and smiling slightly, and her breath was coming much more quickly than normal. Her eyes met his, and the corners of her lips turned up into a smile, her cheeks turning pink. She moved toward him, but a loud yelling like a warcry crew their attention. Spinning around, both looked wildly around for the source. Namine muffled a cry and grabbed Kael by the hand, tugging him towards the ship as fast as she could.

"Shapeshifters! Let's go!" She cried between puffing breaths as she ran. Kael fell into step next to her, racing for the airship. Boarding, they ran for the bridge, shouting for the Celcius to take off. The urgency in their voices caused Brother, Buddy and Shinra to kick the ship into gear and take off before bothering to ask any questions. Once the ship was safely off the ground and speeding away, Sora raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"And what was that about?"

……………………………………….

So sorry for the looong time it's taken to update! It took me a while to find a direction for this chapter, and then I was at a loss for an ending, and then I went away for the holidays to visit umpteen billion family members. So I am back now, and I hope this was worth the wait! RnR! Next chapter: preparing for Fate and insane amounts of awkwardness between our new couple :D


	20. On the statue base

Hey guys, sorry the updates are taking so long. I hit massive writers block. Again. It's because I've got a new story idea that's floating around my head and won't go away. I wrote out the first chapter of that one, so hopefully it'll help me get back on track with this. If you wanna read the new one, it's called OneWinged Angel. It should turn out pretty good!

……………………………………

Now that the Celcius was gliding safely high above the ground and out of the reach of the Fate Beasts, Namine and Kael stood on the bridge. Paine crossed her arms.

"Explain." She ordered. Kael took a deep breath, and sat down on the steps.

"There had to have been at least twenty shapeshifters that came running at us from just out of sight around the mountain base. They were the ones that planted the explosives, and they definitely were on their way back to finish the job." He said. Emma watched them worriedly.

"But you guys are okay, right?" She asked. Both Kael and Namine nodded. There was a long silence. Kairi blew a piece of hair out of her face.

"So, where do we go now? I mean, we have to figure out how to find this Lady Fate now, right?" She asked, sounding slightly dejected. Rikku shrugged.

"So, can't we just, like, follow some Fate Beasts to her lair or something?" She suggested. Gippal grinned at her, looking mildly impressed.

"Hey, good one, Cid'd girl." He answered. Sora shook his head.

"Sound like a good plan, but wouldn't all the ones who chased Namine and Kael into the ship have seen the Celcius?" He asked. Gippal nodded.

"Probably, but so what?"

"So, they're going to run back to Lady Fate and they'll all know what to look for. This ship is now an enormous neon sign that says 'here come the Gullwings'." Baralai stated, frowning. Kael shrugged.

"So we loose the ship for now. We can hide it in the old forest behind the manor and stay there while we decide where to go." He offered. Namine bit her lip.

"But that would be the first place they'll go looking for us." She said. There was another long silence. Then, she let out a gasp. "Hey! There's a little village that shouldn't be too far away, and it's at the base of some huge old mines there, we can hide the ship in the mines and stay at the Inn there!" She said excitedly. Paine crossed her arms.

"You think you can fit this ship in a mine shaft?" She asked incredulously. Kael nodded.

"Those mines are the biggest in existence. You could fit a small mountain in one of them." He answered.

"Impressive" Shinra stated without looking up from his work. Baralai stood up.

"Okay, so where are these mines?" He asked.

"Directly east from the mountain." Kael answered. The direction of the Celcius was altered slightly. It didn't take too long from then for a massive rocky ridge came into view. Taking the Celcius into the mines that twisted through the rock, they got off and made their way down the slope and towards the village. A thick forest stood between them and the town. The little settlement was nestled just inside the tree line on the other side of the wood. Just beyond the woods were a handful of farms. The whole town was enclosed by a low rocky wall, more intended to keep pesky animals out than any serious intruders. Just beyond the walls on the forest side were small shacks used by the lumberjacks. Each of the buildings in the small town were welcoming, made of the wood of silver pines, so that the houses seemed to glow with silver.

"It's very…elegant." Kairi said approvingly as they came to a stop at the end of the main street. Namine smiled.

"This is where I was born." She answered. Kael pouted.

"You would never tell me where you were from, even if I bribed you, and you just offer the information to them?" He asked, sounding exaggeratedly hurt. She shrugged.

"It's not nearly as nice a place as the Manor." She replied. He blinked at her.

"So!" He asked, unable to see how that applied to anything. She opened her mouth to answer, and noticed that they were alone. Her eyes darted around the street, searching for the others who had so conspicuously disappeared. She caught sight of Baralai rounding a corner a little ways down from them.

"Baralai!" She shouted at him crossly. She didn't need to shout, he was certainly near enough that he would be able to hear her fine, but it was frustrating, everyone disappearing on them all the time. She stopped and looked at her, curious.

"We're just going to find a place to stay, me and Paine, and the others are gone to explore. We're all going to meet back here at sunset." He answered. Then, grinning coyly, he added, "Until then, you two can do whatever you want." He winked and disappeared. Namine's cheeks flared red in anger and embarrassment. Kael was red as well, though not nearly as much as her. _So, they've got Baralai in on this matchmaking scheme now. _She thought back to the conversation on the ship. How long had Baralai been standing at the top of the stairs for? Maybe he wasn't put up to this, maybe he was doing it of his own free will? She let out a long winded sigh.

"What is there to see around here?" Kael asked, breaking her thoughts. She looked up and him and thought for a moment. Then, she grinned and her face lit up.

"I know exactly where we should go!" She exclaimed, grabbing him by the hand and leading him away. It took her a long moment for her to realize that she was still holding his hand in hers, and dropped it as inconspicuously as possible, blushing. His fingers lingered against hers for as long as possible without being obvious. She tried to ignore it and scolded herself silently. A part of her mind told her to relax; he did kiss her after all. Sort of. But, she brushed that thought out of her mind. She had no idea what to make of what happened at the mountain, so for now she'd act as if nothing happened. Even if it was on her mind constantly. They spent the day walking around the town, and never once met up with the others. It was something which both found oddly suspicious, but they ignored it anyhow. Namine caught Kael looking at her more often than he was looking at the sights she showed him. Each time she could feel her heart skipping and her cheeks glowing in a slight blush. She found it all totally confusing. He was supposed to be interested in the daughters of rich nobles, not her. She couldn't understand what it was that he saw in her. They had about fifteen minutes left before they had to go back as She led him to the last place she wanted to show him. It was not far outside the walls, but far enough that they couldn't see the village for the trees once they arrived. There was a massive stone cylinder, wide and taller than any of the trees. It was covered in vines and moss. It would seem that there used to be a set of stairs leading to the top, but all that was left of the first three quarters of them was a pile of rubble. There was an unrecognizable shape at the top. Grinning, Namine pulled herself up into the lowest branch of a tree growing next to the pile of rubble that used to be the stairway. Reaching up to the next set of branches, she began to climb, looking like she could pick out the path with her eyes closed. A ways up, she looked down at him.

"Hurry up! I used to climb this all the time when I was little. I'd disappear up here for hours at a time so I wouldn't be around for my parents to ask me to do chores." As she spoke, she edged away from the trunk along a branch, getting closer to the stone cylinder. Kael blinked at her.

"You'd sit in a tree for hours? And they'd never find you?" He asked disbelievingly. She grinned.

"No, no. I'd sit on the statue." She answered, taking a careful step off the tree branch and onto the lowest step of what was left of the stairs. "This used to be a statue from the old days. The Ladies…or Lady ordered it to be demolished. There was a legend about how the earth cried out and swallowed it up when the statue was pulled down. This is all that's left; the base." She led him up the remaining steps and into the top. He could see it more clearly now: the strange shape on the top was the worn remains of the ankles and feet of the statue. She climbed into the foot and sat down, nestled nicely at the top of the foot, the bottom of the shin acting as a backrest. He followed and whistled when he got a good look at the surrounding landscape.

"We don't have a view anywhere like this back home." He said, awed by the sight. She grinned in reply and pointed.

"See that? Where the trees are all shorter than the rest?" She asked. He nodded. Indeed, there was a long section of trees starting a little way out from the base and running outwards where the trees that grew there were all shorter than the rest of the forest. "That's where the statue fell. My cousin pointed that out to me. He showed me this place."

"This place is wonderful. I wish I was born here." He said, almost wistfully. She blinked at him, caught off guard by the comment.

"Why? The Manor has everything you could ever want."

"And enough rules and regulations to drown a person in." He answered. "Besides, it doesn't have anything like this." There was a long silence.

"What do you think is going to happen to us?" Namine asked after a while. Kael stretched and put his hands behind his head.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean I was accused of being an outsider, you defended me. And on top of it, we know things that we shouldn't and we're running around with eight other outsiders. We're probably the most wanted criminals in the world."

"Right, but nobody knows that yet, except for the people in the Palace. And besides, once we defeat Lady Fate, we'll be heroes."

"I don't want to be a hero." She answered bluntly. "I'm enough of a freak as it is." She said. Kael frowned, putting one of his arms around her.

"You're not a freak. Why would you be?" He asked, pulling her into a hug.

"Everyone says it. You know they do. Sometimes I think you're the only one who doesn't care that my singing does weird things." She told him forlornly.

"It's a gift. You saw how everyone watched you're performance at the feast. It's amazing."

"It's all fine and wonderful to ooh and aah over me when I'm on stage, but no one at the court would come near me otherwise."

"But that's the court." Kael argued. "They lock down at the first sign of a spider. Besides, why should we care what they think? We're criminals now, remember?" He spoke with a crooked smile. She nodded, smiling a little.

"Maybe once this is all over I'll see if I can go with the others on the Celcius back to wherever they came from. Maybe I could go with Sora and Kairi. Me and Kairi are like twins after all." She sounded more like she was thinking out loud than anything else. He still had his arm around her and she was leaning comfortably against him, though she wasn't sure how she got there.

"I'll go with you wherever you choose to go." He said. She sat up a little and frowned.

"You can't come, still have a life here. You can't leave it."

"Why not? My brother Torin would make a much better heir than I would, and it's not as if the King's Guard actually needs me anyways. I'm "too valuable"…meaning my parents are too powerful to risk putting me on active duty. They would be very upset if I were injured. There won't be much of any consequence if I leave, and I'm not letting you go without me." He told her firmly. There was a long silence as Namine contemplated whether or not to actually ask the question that was tugging at her mind.

"What about Taniki?" She asked quietly.

"What about her? It's an arranged marriage. She doesn't really care about me, she'd just better at acting like she does than I am. She'll probably end up with Torin anyways, and I know the two of them get along famously." He answered. He pouted over-dramatically. "It sounds to me like you don't want me to come." He said. She shook her head, trying unsuccessfully to keep from grinning. There was another long pause and her grin faded as reality hit her once again.

"I want you to come, but we both know you shouldn't." She whispered, her tone of voice a hint at her being upset.

"And we both know that what I should do and what I will do are two completely different things." He said. She laughed.

"I'm sorry, but you never do anything even remotely rude. You always do what you're supposed to do."

"Are you calling me a goodie-two-shoes?"

"Maybe." She flashed a grin at him.

"I am not." He argued, trying too hard to sound indignant. Her grin widened.

"How are you not?" She asked disbelievingly. "Prove me wrong." From the look on her face, it was a dare. He paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. He still had his arm around her and she was sitting sideways, resting her head on his shoulder with her legs crossing over his. When he turned his head to look at her, he found her face very close to his.

"What will prove you wrong?" He asked quietly. She smiled slyly and shrugged.

"That's what I asked you." She answered, moving slightly to look out over the view. He grinned in spite of himself and cupped her face in his free hand, turning her face towards him so she was looking back at him again. She raised an eyebrow, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "What are you grinning at?"

"I thought of something." He answered with a mischievous grin. With the hand that cupped her face he traced the curve of her cheek and put two fingers under her chin, drawing her towards him until their lips met. The kiss was short but sweet. They parted and her arms had found their way around his neck. He planted a kiss in the hollow below her ear, making her gasp.

"So did it work?" He asked, grinning.

"Did what work?" she asked, having a hard time thinking of anything but the tingling numbness left on her lips and neck.

"Did I prove you wrong yet?" He asked, his grin widening. To be totally honest, she'd forgotten it with the kiss and really didn't care anymore. She grinned back at him.

"Ummm…I'll let you win if you kiss me again." She answered.

…………………………

Namine first noticed something was up when she realized that she could barely see Kael, despite the fact that he was only inches away from her. Looking around, she let out a gasp. The sun had gone down completely, and dusk was waning. He was looking around too.

"So, maybe we got a little carried away…" He noted quietly. Neither of them made any move to stand up.

"We're already late and I really don't want to stand up." She said with a sigh. Her eyes scanned the view, and she glanced over the rooftops visible for the trees. She saw a flurry of movement and watched it. Someone was running down one of the streets, coming in and out of view between the roofs and trees. Then there was another. So they weren't the only ones running late. Another pair ran down the street a moment later. One of them stopped suddenly and the other disappeared behind one of the trees for a moment before coming back to see what the first was doing. Squinting, Namine let out a gasp and started to blush. Kael blinked at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, sounding concerned.

"It's Emma and Riku. They can see us." She said, nodding in the direction of the two figures, both of whom were watching them. He grinned.

"Then let's give them something to see." He spoke quietly, guiding her lips to his once again. The kiss was much more lingering than either of them had intended, though neither was about to complain. Glancing back at the space between the houses and trees, she noticed that the two figures were gone.

"Looks like they had the decency to give us some privacy." She noted. With a resigned sigh she got to her feet. He got up behind her and they made their way down and back to the village. The others were waiting for them at the meeting place. Judging from their breathing, it looked like Rikku and Gippal were the other two who were late. Emma and Riku were grinning helplessly at Namine and Kael, who turned red and grinned back. Kairi took one look at the two couples and could immediately guess what was going on and started to grin. As new couple approached the group, she leaned over to Namine.

"Girls meeting in the inn as soon as we get there, in my room." She whispered. Namine blushed even brighter and nodded reluctantly.

Again, my apologies for taking so long, I was having a hard time with getting this chappie going. Next one should be good tho! Promise! RnR!


	21. Door to door and the girls' meeting

When they got to the inn, Rikku and Gippal decided that they would be the ones to share a co-ed room. The others were paired off like this: Emma and Kairi, Namine and Paine, Tidus and Sora, Kael and Riku. Kairi and Emma were getting settled in their room. Emma was putting things away and Kairi stood up.

"I'm going to find Namine." She said and, offering no other explanation, left. She peered up and down the hall and saw no one. Walking over to the room and Namine and Paine were staying in, she knocked. Paine opened the door looking irritated.

"We came here to sleep. Why aren't you sleeping?" She asked shortly. Kairi grinned back at her.

"I'm looking for Namine. Her and Kael finally got together and I want to know all the juicy details." She answered with a slight grin.

"You're such a girl." Paine stated with a sigh, about to shut the door.

"Oh come on Paine, you can't deny you're girly side forever."

"My girly side?"

"Every girl has a girly side, even you."

"No I don't. Now leave me alone I want to sleep."

"Wait, isn't Namine in there?"

"No. She left a couple minutes ago. Didn't say where she was going."

"Okay, but I'll be back to come get you for the girl's meeting in my room. You know you want to come."

"Whatever. If you wake me up, you'll be sorry." With that, the door shut with a snap. Kairi rolled her eyes and walked over to the next room, knocking again.

"Helloooooo! I hope you two aren't doing anything inappropriate in there, because I'm coming in." She started to push the door open and Rikku's face appeared from behind the door.

"Hey hey! What's going on?" She asked, grinning. Kairi grinned back at her.

"You guys must have just missed it, because Emma and Riku saw it." She answered. Rikku pouted at her.

"Saw what?"

"Namine and Kael finally got together."

"NO WAY! I wanna know allllll the juicy details."

"That's exactly what I said." Kairi agreed, grinning. She grabbed the Al Bhed girl by the wrist and tried to pull her out of her room. "Come on!" She ordered, tugging. Rikku pulled her wrist out of the younger girl's grasp, blushing.

"Ha…uh…give me a sec would you? I'm…not really actually wearing any clothes." She said slowly, looking down at the rest of her body that remained hidden behind the door. Kairi made a face.

"Ugh! So you guys _were_ doing stuff in there!" She complained. Rikku stuck her tongue out.

"It's not like you and Sora don't every chance you get." With that she shut the door and Kairi shut her mouth, blushing crimson. _That's not true! …ummm…okay maybe it is a little bit…_She blushed even harder and Rikku appeared in the doorway once again, this time fully clothed.

"Okay, okay, let's go! We have to find Namine, right? So where is she?"

"I don't know, she's not in her room and Paine didn't seem to know where she'd gone." As Kairi she spoke, Riku and Kael came out of their room, talking quietly. Rikku jumped in front of them. Both stopped suddenly, looking totally bewildered.

"Hey! Where's Namine, do you know?" She asked. Kael scratched his head.

"I was going to see if she was in her room…"

"Well, she's not there." Kairi answered. He shrugged.

"Okay, I guess I'll just hang around here then until she comes back." Riku just shrugged and kept walking. Rikku pouted.

"Ohhhh, where'd she go?" She asked. Kairi rolled her eyes and Kael motioned towards the foyer.

"She's probably gone to visit all the places around here that she hasn't seen since she moved to the manor." He told them. He blinked, looking around.

"Hey, where'd Riku go?" He asked, confused. Neither of the girls bothered to answer; they were both on their way outside. It was dark out, but there were still people about. They asked around, seeing if anyone had spotted Namine, but no one had. So, they resigned themselves to making a quick search and then heading back to the inn to wait. They spent about 10 minutes walking before Rikku decided she was bored and wanted to go back. The two raced back, and caught sight of Namine at the doors as they approached.

"NAMINE!" They called, picking up their pace. The blonde stopped and blushed, knowing exactly what they wanted. Kairi grinned at her once they reached her.

"You should have known better than to try and avoid our girls' meeting. Besides, you know you want to tell us allll about it." She spoke with heavy breathing as they walked back inside. Namine grinned back at her.

"Okay, maybe." She admitted quietly. Rikku laughed triumphantly and they stopped in front of Paine's and Namine's door. The Al Bhed girl knocked loudly.

"PAINE!"

"Go away!"

"Come on! Girls meeting in Kairi and Emma's room!"

"I'm not coming, I'm sleeping!"

"Awww! Come on Paine, you know you want to!"

"No, now go away!"

"Don't be such a party pooper! Let's go!"

"If I have to get up and chase you away I won't be pleased."

"PAINE!" All three girls shouted, laughing. There was a thump and the door swung open to reveal a very angry looking Paine dressed only in a robe. She glared at them. Namine and Rikku both shrank back, but Kairi was having a hard time keeping her laughter at bay. Paine scowled at her.

"Go away." She said bluntly, and shut the door. Kairi immediately collapsed to the floor, laughing so hard that she was in tears. Rikku and Namine stared at her, bewildered. Calming herself, Kairi stood up and grinned.

"I'll tell you guys later." She said, still chuckling. They walked up to Kairi and Emma's door and Kairi paused for a moment. "I forgot my key." She admitted after a moment, grinning sheepishly. "It's okay though, Emma's inside." She knocked on the door. There was a squeak and a thud, followed by some shuffling and Emma's voice.

"I'll be there in a minute!" There was some more shuffling and finally the door swung open. Emma stood there, smiling slightly. She looked a little disheveled, with her hair slightly teased and her smoothing her shirt. She was wearing her shorts and a tank top, though without a bra. Said garment was lying on the floor at the foot of the bed. (AN: they can't see into the rooms from the door: the bathroom blocks most of the view so all they can see is the foot of the beds and the window on the opposite wall). Rikku raised an eyebrow at her.

"What have _you_ been doing?" She asked. Emma blushed slightly.

"Nothing." Her answer came too quick. All three other girls looked suspicious. Then, Kairi burst out laughing again. They all stared at her while she tried to contain herself.

"You and Paine both made the same mistake." She stated after a while. They all just blinked, even more confused than before. Giggling, she looked over Emma's shoulder at the window on the opposite wall. "Hi Riku!" She said waving. She could see him freeze on the spot, looking wildly around. Then, his eyes settled on the window and he looked defeated. He could see her reflection in the window, and knew she could see him just as clearly. He was standing beside Emma's bed in nothing but his boxers. Kairi started laughing again. Emma gaped at her.

"How…?"

"We can see his reflection in the window." Namine replied, giggling. She could see him now too. "How about you clothe yourself, Riku?" He sighed.

"Alright, I guess this means that I've been displaced." He said, pulling on a shirt. Emma frowned.

"Now look what you've done, just when it was getting good too!" She scolded the girls, who all collapsed into fits of laughter. Riku grinned, now fully clothed, walking up behind Emma.

"You mean all the rest of it wasn't any good?" He asked, faking a pout. She smiled at him.

"Of course it was. It was just getting better is all."

"Okay, you two need to talk about this later when we're not subjected to it." Rikku complained. Kairi crossed her arms.

"Are you kidding me? You were the one who answered the door with nothing on, and then even accused _me_ off the inappropriate stuff." She said. Rikku blushed while Namine made a face.

"I really didn't need to hear that." Meanwhile, Riku said his goodbyes to Emma and left. The girls got inside the room and all of them squished onto Kairi's bed, none of them willing to go near Emma's. Emma herself flopped onto her bed and stretched out, grinning evilly at them.

"So Namine…" She began, inspecting her fingernails. Namine blushed, squished between Rikku and Kairi. She paused, thinking about what to say next, when there was a knock on the door. Rikku leapt up to get it and squealed when she opened the door.

"If you do that again, I won't be staying." Paine grumbled. Kairi flashed a mischievous smile at her.

"I'm impressed you'd be willing to leave your room for just a girl's talk. I could imagine you two were having great fun in there." She said. All the other girls gaped at her, Paine looking surprised and the others looking confused. She grinned at Emma. "Didn't I say you and Paine made the same mistake?" She asked. No one seemed to get it, until Namine started laughing helplessly. Kairi giggled and still the other three stared, totally confused.

"You mean you saw Baralai?" She asked, still chuckling. Kairi nodded, still grinning at Paine.

"I could see Baralai lying in your bed in the reflection on the window. I caught Riku in here with Emma the same way." She explained. Paine, who had since taken a seat on Emma's bed, stood up instantly. "Rikku, on the other hand… I didn't have to catch her, she may as well have openly told me what she was doing." Kairi added, giggling. Rikku blushed.

"Aren't we here to talk about Namine?" She asked. Namine sighed.

"I figured we'd end up doing this again. I saw you and Riku running to meet everyone, you know." She said, speaking to Emma. Emma shrugged.

"I kind of thought so. Both of you froze up really suddenly, and then you started kissing… it was soooo cute!" She squealed. Paine rolled her eyes. Namine laughed.

"I told Kael that you saw us, and he said we should give you something to see, so…"

"Tell us everything, from the beginning." Kairi ordered. Namine smiled coyly and started.

"When you guys _deserted_ us, we went to visit all the places worth seeing here, and the last place I took him was to the statue base…"


	22. AN

I think I'm going on hiatus for a while. Don't worry! I will finish, I promise! But, I need to wrestle out the other stories floating around in my head first and get them going. They're very distracting. Not to mention that fact that my chapters are spread out over two computers and I can never manage to get on the right one. Plus, a new semester started and English is going to kill me. Calc won't be fun either. School is dumb pout. Anyways, just to let you all know not to expect a new chappie for a while, but I will finish this, so don't give up on me just yet!


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